Who has the best TIPS for your clients’ 401(k)s? It appears (yet again) that Vanguard takes the top spot.
Research firm BrightScope announced the Top 20 Treasury Inflation Protected Securities (TIPS) Fund Distribution for the 401(k) and defined contribution industry.
Based on a sample set of just under 20,000 audited plans governed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) from 2010-13, TIPS assets decreased from 2012-13 to represent nearly $28 billion of ERISA defined contribution assets in the San Diego-based BrightScope’s database of $4.2 trillion.
“Plan Sponsors continue to see the value in offering inflation protected securities, as we have witnessed an increase in plans offering TIPS products over the past several years,” Brooks Herman, head of data and research at BrightScope, said in a statement. “Based on data for 2013, we saw that plan participants moved away from TIPS for the first time.”
Vanguard Inflation-Protected Securities holds the No. 1 spot for the second year in a row, BlackRock US TIPS jumped two spots to No. 2 and Northern Trust Treasury Inflation (No. 6), SSgA TIPS Index (No. 9), BlackRock US TIPS Index (No. 10), Vanguard Short-Term Inflation-Protected Securities Index (No. 12) and Northern Trust Daily TIPS (No. 20) are new to the list.
The Top 20 TIPS funds by total distribution are:
1. Vanguard Inflation-Protected Securities
2. BlackRock US TIPS
3. PIMCO Real Return
4. TIAA-CREF Inflation-Linked Bond
5. SSgA US Inflation-Protected Bond Index
6. Northern Trust Treasury Inflation
7. BlackRock Inflation Protected Bond
8. American Century Inflation-Adjusted Bond
9. SSgA TIPS Index
10. BlackRock US TIPS Index
11. Fidelity Inflation-Protected Bond
12. Vanguard Short-Term Inflation-Protected Securities Index
13. DFA Inflation-Protected Securities
14. FFTW Inflation-Indexed Bond
15. Western Asset Inflation Indexed Plus Bond
16. Northern Trust Daily TIPS
17. American Beacon Treasury Inflation Protected Securities
18. Wellington Management TIPS Plus
19. Russell Inflation Protected Securities
20. American Century Short Duration Inflation Protection Bond
With more than 20 years serving financial markets, John Sullivan is the former editor-in-chief of Investment Advisor magazine and retirement editor of ThinkAdvisor.com. Sullivan is also the former editor of Boomer Market Advisor and Bank Advisor magazines, and has a background in the insurance and investment industries in addition to his journalism roots.
