Custom Target Date Builder

The Blueprint for Retirement Architects

Custom Target Date Builder couples innovative, easy-to-use technology with the capabilities of two of the world’s investment leaders, BNY Mellon Investment Management and Wilshire, creating a highly flexible, distinctive program that redefines target date investing:

•  Five glide paths, diversified across as many as 18 asset classes.

•  Open architecture, with access to a robust universe high-conviction active and passive investment strategies, offered as mutual funds and/or collective investment trusts.

•  Sophisticated, manager selection and asset allocation, powered by Wilshire.

•  Independent manager selection and asset allocation within an ERISA 3(38) fiduciary framework to mitigate fiduciary risk.

•  Built-in tools designed to support an advisor’s consultative efforts to elevate value delivery to plan sponsors and participants.

•  Innovative technology that makes high-touch customization scalable, enabling advisors to grow their DC practice.

•  Finally, customizing the target date solution to better align with needs of plan sponsors and plan participants, alike.

Three Steps to Design and Build

With the confidence of a sound foundation, Retirement Plan Architects (RPA) can exercise three key levers to create custom target date portfolios specific to each plan sponsor client’s particular needs and wishes.

Step 1.

Select from available glide paths

An RPA can calibrate the mix of equity and fixed income exposure to provide five equity risk levels, including:

• Conservative

• Moderate Conservative

• Moderate

• Moderate Aggressive

• Aggressive

Each glide path is slowly de-risked as the participant approaches retirement and throughout his or her retirement years, with the Aggressive through Conservative glide path options structured to accommodate a participant’s preference and capacity for risk.

This ability to adjust the risk level up or down in the context of specific retirement target dates, such as 2050, creates a custom target date portfolio that combines the best of the target date and target risk approaches.

Figure 1: Five glidepath options, with Wilshire research baked in to each one

Step 2.

Select from available asset classes

Many off-the-shelf, one-size-fits-all Target Date Funds in use today have limited asset class diversity, which may reduce the potential for long-term returns and risk mitigation benefits of broader asset class exposure.

The BNY Mellon Investment Management Custom Target Date Builder provides access to as many as 18 asset classes, from which sophisticated, broadly diversified investment portfolios can be crafted. The available asset classes are shown in Step 3:

Step 3.

Select underlying strategies

Conventional Target Date Funds typically invest in proprietary funds managed by a single fund family, depriving plan sponsors the benefits of open architecture sought after in today’s institutional lineups.

With the Custom Target Date Fund Builder, RPAs choose from among hundreds of strategies across asset classes that have passed Wilshire’s rigorous investment manager selection process.

These investment choices include actively and passively managed portfolios from a universe of mutual funds and collective investment trusts.1

Figure 2: Available asset classes include:

About BNY Mellon

BNY Mellon Investment Management is one of the world’s leading investment management organizations and one of the top U.S. wealth managers, encompassing BNY Mellon’s affiliated investment management firms, wealth management organization and global distribution companies. BNY Mellon is the corporate brand of The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation and may also be used as a generic term to reference the Corporation as a whole or its various subsidiaries generally. BNY Mellon Securities Corporation is the distributor for the BNY Mellon Family of Funds and is a subsidiary of BNY Mellon.

About Wilshire

Wilshire is a diversified global financial services firm that serves in excess of 500 clients across 20 countries with combined assets exceeding $8 trillion. Wilshire, an independent firm for over 40 years, is supported by a global network of offices in the U.S., Europe, and the Asia Pacific. Today, Wilshire remains a privately held, 100% employee-owned corporation. Since its founding in 1972, Wilshire has evolved from an investment technology firm into a global advisory company specializing in investment products, consulting services, and technology solutions. Throughout its history, Wilshire has retained a position of leadership in providing innovative ideas to the investment community.

Learn More

For more information, please contact a BNY Mellon Retirement Specialist:

Bill Wendel
William.Wendel@bnymellon.com
T: 302-388-9518

Maureen Kuhns
Maureen.Kuhns@bnymellon.com
T: 609-954-5069

 

For general inquiries please contact us at: BNYMELLONRetirement@bnymellon.com

Investors should consider the investment objectives, risks, charges, and expenses of a mutual fund carefully before investing. Investors should contact a financial advisor or visit im.bnymellon.com to obtain a prospectus, or summary prospectus, if available, that contains this and other information about the fund, and read it carefully before investing.

All investments involve some level of risk, including loss of principal. Certain investments have specific or unique risks.

An investment in a Target Date Fund does not eliminate the need for an investor to determine whether a fund is appropriate for their specific financial situation. An investment in a fund is not guaranteed. Investors may experience losses, including losses near, at, or after the target date, and there is no guarantee that a fund will provide adequate income at and through retirement.

1 As bank-maintained collective investment funds, these funds and its units are not registered under federal and state securities laws in reliance upon applicable exemptions. Because these funds are not mutual funds, they are governed by different regulations, restrictions and disclosure requirements. For example, these funds are subject to banking and tax regulations which, among other things, limit participation to certain eligible qualified retirement plans (stock bonus, retirement, pension and profit sharing accounts) and government plans.

This information is intended to be educational and is not tailored to the investment needs of any specific plan or plan investor. The funds which may be included in any model portfolio and the related asset allocation represents just one way that a diversified portfolio may be constructed and not the only way to construct a diversified portfolio. The information shall not be relied upon as the primary basis for any plan investment decisions. This information does not obligate Wilshire or BNYMSC to provide information on a regular basis. The plan fiduciaries do not have an agreement with Wilshire (unless they have engaged Wilshire to provide the “3(38) Investment Manager” Services for Model Portfolios) and the plan fiduciaries should carefully research any potential fund or model portfolio before making an investment decision, and consider other funds or model portfolios with similar risk and return characteristics that may be available.

BNY Mellon and Wilshire Associates are not affiliated entities.

The BNY Mellon Investment Management Custom Target Date Builder is distributed by BNY Mellon Securities Corporation, a registered broker-dealer. BNY Mellon Securities Corporation does not provide investment advice and is not a fiduciary for the program. ©2020 BNY Mellon Securities Corporation, distributor, 240 Greenwich St., New York, NY 10286.

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