(Des Moines, Iowa) - Staying on course in volatile markets can be tough. Research shows that left to their own devices, investors make the wrong investment decision 75 percent of the time [1]; rushing to buy mutual funds when the market goes up only to sell them when the market goes down.
The Principal Financial Group ®, the nation´s 401(k) leader and total retirement solutions
innovator, is making it easier for financial professionals to help stem this potentially detrimental behavior with a comprehensive suite of asset allocation programs now integrated on one investment platform featuringthe Principal Investors Fund, Inc.-a family of 55 mutual funds.
Financial professionals can now offer their retail clients three distinct asset allocation programs from The Principal ®, each featuring the multi-manager approach of the Principal Investors
Funds. The suite has been enhanced with new tools to make it easier for financial professionals to guide their clients to the most appropriate solution.
"Asset allocation can significantly help reduce portfolio risk. Even during the extreme bear market between 2000 and 2002, investors with well-grounded asset allocation programs avoided the temptation of panic selling and eventually reaped the rewards of the market´s rebound [2]," said Kyle Selberg, marketing director, Retirement and Investor Services, The Principal. "Our new asset allocation suite not only saves financial professionals time, but it can also help significantly increase client satisfaction. That ultimately can mean higher client retention and more referrals."
The asset allocation suite from The Principal includes:
- Principal LifeTime Funds, target date funds that allow investors to use a "set it and forget it" investment strategy.
- Principal Path for Growth and Path for Income, which use risk-based portfolios made up of Principal Investors Funds and
feature an annual asset allocation review.
- Principal Managed Portfolio SM, an investment advisory solution that offers model portfolios based on risk tolerance and
time horizon with ongoing asset allocation expertise provided by Ibbotson Associates. In addition to saving time and
increasing client satisfaction, the new asset allocation suite from The Principal may also help with asset retention.
According to the Dalbar study, investors with asset allocation funds hold them 32 percent longer, over a 10-year period,
than a typical investor with equity or fixed-income funds.
"With this new asset allocation suite, we are inviting financial professionals to let us manage the money so they can spend their time managing their existing client relationships and more time cultivating new ones," said Selberg.
About the Principal Financial Group
The Principal Financial Group (The Principal ®) [3] is a leader in offering businesses, individuals and institutional clients a wide range of financial products and services, including retirement and investment services, life and health insurance, and banking through its diverse family of financial services companiesand national network of financial professionals. A member of the Fortune 500, the Principal Financial Group has $205.3 billion in assets under management [4] and serves some 16.0 million customers worldwide from offices in Asia, Australia, Europe, Latin America and the United States. Principal Financial Group, Inc. is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol PFG. For more information, visit www.principal.com.