Prudential Financial (401k)

My company is switching us over to a 401k plan with Prudential. Here are the options I have to dump my existing money in, and I also need to determine which funds to start putting payroll deductions into. (Does one normally roll their money into the same funds they will start contributing too??)

I dont know if the info below will be much help, but perhaps some of you are familiar with Prudential funds, and can recommend a few to distribute my money into.

Stable Value
Guaranteed Income Fund

Fixed Income - Intermediate Bond
PIMCO Total Return Fund ClA PTTAX

Fixed Income - Multisector
Loomis Sayles Bond Retail LSBRX

Balanced - Blend
American Balanced Fund ClR3 RLBCX

Large Cap Stock - Value
Van Kampen Comstock Fund ACSRX

Large Cap Stock - Blend
Davis NY Venture Fund ClA NYVTX

Dryden Stock Index Fund ClZ PSIFX

Large Cap Stock - Growth
The Growth Fund of America ClR3 RGACX

Mid Cap Stock - Value
Goldman Sachs Mid Cap Value Fund ClA GCMAX

Mid Cap Stock - Blend
Victory Special Value Fund ClA SSVSX

Mid Cap Stock - Growth
Allianz CCM Mid-Cap Growth Fund A ClA PFMAX

Small Cap Stock - Value
Franklin Small Cap Value Fund ClR FVFRX

Small Cap Stock - Growth
Legg Mason Small Cap Growth A SASMX

International Stock - Blend
EuroPacific Growth Fund ClR3 RERCX

 

How old are you?

 

42

 

Good thing...none of those are Prudential funds...but they are all load funds. Are you paying a load in your 401k? I'd like to think your employer didn't do that to you.

Years ago, I remember the Davis Fund was pretty good. Same with the Van Kampen and American Fund. But I haven't followed any of them in years.

 

They're not all loaded.

This one looks OK:

RLBCX

Also

NYVTX

This one is S&P Index. Kinda high expense ratio for an index, but still low and no load I saw:

PSIFX

Hell - I haven't seen any loaded funds in the list - Imight not be looking right.

There's so many options it's tough to suggest. For retirement mutual funds long term, I like indexes and balanced funds with low expenses. I like the balanced in retirement b/c the dividends are not taxed, and the beta and r2 are usually very nice.

I'd research those ticker symbols and decide what you want to do.

 

Maybe they changed...when I was a broker the NY Venture was a loaded fund for sure. That's all we sold. Same with American and Van Kampen.

 

thanks, I will research the ones you mentioned, and take my chances.

 

Morningstar all of them and see what's in them and how they've performed.

 

As mentioned, none of these funds are Prudential funds. Well, Dryden is underneath the Prudential umbrella. Pru will be doing the administration and record keeping on the plan. Your company has gone outside Prudential to come up with the lineup of funds.

First, I am not a huge fan of the asset class breakdown. But you can still get a nice asset allocation from the funds that are there. Why have three mid cap funds in the lineup? One or two at the most is plenty

Growth Fund of America is a good fund. 5 star rated by Morningstar. Very good against the S&P over the long haul. Lost 5 percentage points to that benchmark last year. But 1 year does not a fund make.

EuroPacific fund gives you international exposure. I am a big believer of having a portion of your portfolio outside the US.

I have been in Mid Cap Value the past few years....it has performed better than growth.

Pimco is one of the better fixed income managers out there. if you want exposure to further diversify, not sure you can go wrong there.

Franklin Small Cap is another 5 star fund.

There are some good funds in that lineup. I doubt that any of them have a front load on them. Typically they have a retirement trust share class that are no load.