Statement on Target Date Funds

On October 28, 2009, CFP Board submitted a written statement to the Senate Special Committee on Aging as part of the record for the Special Committee’s hearing titled “Default Nation: Are 401(k) Target Date Funds Missing the Mark?” In its written statement, CFP Board expressed serious concerns that target date funds can be fundamentally misleading to investors because they are allowed to be managed in ways that are inconsistent with the reasonable expectations created by the funds’ names. CFP Board urged the Special Committee to work closely with the SEC and Department of Labor to establish appropriate protections to ensure that target date funds can continue to be used in retirement savings plans as qualified default investment alternatives with confidence that they reflect appropriate, industry-sanctioned investment decisions on behalf of plan participants.

Read CFP Board’s statement (PDF, 52KB)