Mutual Funds & ETFs
Investment Universe
Environmental, Social, & Governance (ESG) funds are increasingly popular and here to stay. Empowering employees to align their investments with their values, ESG-themed investments are conveniently built into your investment menu with both indexed funds as well as actively managed solutions.
Keeping expenses in check …
Index funds in our menu have a very low average expense ratio of under .05%.
This average expense is subject to change and depends on the specific funds that you choose for your lineup.
When you consider the impact that expenses have on long-term returns, it’s easy to understand why the fund decisions are some of the most important within a 401k. We help you with research materials, giving you an in-depth view of the funds and the tools you need to make a careful evaluation of the investment lineup.
Gaining access to these lower-expense institutional share classes is a significant plus when comparing 401k providers.
USA 401k has a level program fee, experienced by participants, and detailed by the services agreement. There are no employer-related investment expenses.
Index & Active Funds
Much discussion surrounding fund selection has focused on the performance of index funds vs. active fund management results. While there are studies to support one tactic over the other, there will never be a definitive answer to which is effectively a better approach. Investors may be best served via a combination of both, so USA 401k’s investment menu incorporates both strategies in a broadly diversified universe of mutual fund and ETF choices.
MERITS
By tracking an index, an investment portfolio typically experiences fair diversification
They have lower trading costs than actively managed funds as they have low turnover of holdings
They don’t require an active manager
CONSIDERATIONS
Index funds will never outperform the market
Inability to move to cash in market contractions
MERITS
There is the ability to react to market conditions and adjust a portfolio accordingly
Each manager will use their own stock selection skills in their endeavor to outperform
Managers will buy targeted stocks when they believe the price is right
CONSIDERATIONS
Higher trading costs than passive funds as they have a greater turnover of holdings
An active fund could underperform the market
In Summary
Investors can enjoy the benefits of dual approaches when both active and passive funds have been included in the lineup. At times, active managers may outperform the benchmarks and capture some alpha in markets that tend to be less efficient while other times a passive fund will provide steady returns with low expenses.
Either way, an open-architecture design is the most versatile investment structure for employers because it enables freedom of choice. USA 401k is an open-architecture design.
Past performance is not a guarantee nor indication of future returns.