T. Rowe Price tops target-date performance in Russell analysis

T. Rowe Price's target-date fund family was the best performing in 2009, followed closely by funds from John Hancock, according to Russell Investments research. T. Rowe Price Retirement family posted a 207.7 score for the year, which Russell said was 107.7% above a benchmark score of 100. The benchmark score is based on a static portfolio consisting of 60% equity and 40% fixed income. John Hancock's JHancock2 Lifecycle family produced a 206.8 score; followed by Oppenheimer Transition, 194.8; AllianceBernstein Retirement Strategies, 171.7; and Franklin Templeton Retirement Target, 171.5. Over the three years ended Dec. 31, Franklin Templeton had the highest score at 104.6. Russell uses a complex analysis based on each fund family's investment process, “including active management, asset allocations within the equity and fixed-income components,” the funds' glidepath designs and assumptions of cash flow, the company said in a news release. This composite measurement “can be more useful for those who make decisions based on the entire family of funds rather than individual funds,” Rolf Agather, director of index research and innovation at Russell, said in the news release. To be included in these rankings, the target-date fund families must have at least four target-date funds — with increments of five to 10 years — that have glidepaths beginning 45 years before their target date, Sarah McCarthy, senior product manager for the Russell indexes, said in an interview. Mr. Steyer is a reporter for Pensions & Investments, a sister publication to InvestmentNews.