Principal’s target date funds upgraded by Morningstar
Morningstar has upgraded Principal Financial Group's target date funds from its lowest rating to a below-average rating.
Morningstar has upgraded Principal Financial Group’s target date funds from its lowest rating to a below-average rating.
Principal cut the fees for its LifeTime group of target date funds – which has triggered the upgrade, according to Morningstar. In July, the firm reduced the annual fees on these funds to 0.03% of assets, from 0.12%.
“Also, we went out to visit Principal and got more about how they are running the fund and what their selection criteria are,” said Laura Lutton, an analyst at Morningstar Inc. who puts together the ratings reports.
Principal is the only firm that has seen a change in ratings since Morningstar released its first target date funds report in June. The full third-quarter reports are being released today, and Morningstar will continue to issue these ratings on a quarterly basis.
Principal’s LifeTime funds went live in March 2001 and have $13.7 billion in assets. Jaime Naig, a spokeswoman at Principal, declined to comment on the upgrade since she hasn’t seen the report.
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