BrightScope OnTarget Indexes Now Available on Morningstar Platforms

LOS ANGELES, CA–(Marketwire – Jan 15, 2013) – Target Date Analytics LLC (www.ontargetindex.com), an investment management and research firm specializing in target date design, analysis and management, announced today that its signature indexes, The BrightScope OnTarget Indexes, are now available via Morningstar’s research platforms. The OnTarget Indexes (“OTI”) were introduced in 2007. Two years later, in 2009, Target Date Analytics, together with BrightScope (www.brightscope.com), a 401k data and analytics firm, announced the branding of the OTI as the BrightScope OnTarget Indexes.

Many of the most respected investment managers, investment committees, investment advisors, investment stewards, trust companies, and recordkeepers already rely on Target Date Analytics’ research, data, glidepath and indices. The firm is proud to list CalSTRS and Financial Soundings among its clients. “We’ve worked intensively with Target Date Analytics. Their consistency, reliability, creativity and common sense have been very impressive,” said Stephen Lansing, Chief Investment Officer of Financial Soundings, a retirement consulting and advice firm.

The BrightScope OnTarget Indexes give 401k market participants the ability to see how accurately a target date fund lives up to its stated goals as outlined in the prospectus. Unlike other target date indexes, the BrightScope OnTarget Indexes account for actual participant behavior when determining the appropriate asset allocation for participants approaching retirement. Industry adoption of the BrightScope OnTarget Indexes can improve participant outcomes and ensure retirement income security.

“The industry demanded target date benchmarks,” said Mike Alfred, CEO and co-founder of BrightScope. “And while other target date indexes have been introduced recently, the majority of them are peer groups, or averages of what target date managers are doing. We think that proper due diligence requires both a peer group assessment and a fixed, fundamental standard such as the OTI.”

“Inclusion on Morningstar’s platforms is a great benefit to our clients. Now, those advisors and plan sponsors who insist on a fundamental target date index series no longer have to load our data manually into their reporting systems,” said Joseph C. Nagengast, principal of Target Date Analytics LLC.

About Target Date Analytics
The leading independent source of detailed information on target date theory, design, and analysis, Target Date Analytics LLC (TDA) specializes in target date indexes for reporting clarity and glidepath licensing. TDA created and maintains the BrightScope OnTarget Indexes (OTI). Target Date Analytics is the home of “Popping the Hood,” a recurring and comprehensive analysis of target date fund families. TDA also consults plan sponsors, advisors, and fund companies on glidepath design and allocation, and assists with the creation of custom target date solutions. For more information on TDA, visit www.ontargetindex.com.

About BrightScope
BrightScope is committed to helping America’s workforce retire in dignity. BrightScope is an independent data analytics firm that quantitatively rates 401k plans and gives employers, employees, and brokers tools to enhance plan performance and maximize retirement outlook. The BrightScope Rating T developed in partnership with leading independent 401k fiduciaries, reviews more than 200 unique data inputs per plan and calculates a single numerical score which defines 401k plan quality at the company level. BrightScope-published ratings, rating definitions, criteria and methodologies are available on the agency’s public site, www.brightscope.com.

2013-01-15 07:18:41

Source: http://www.marketwire.com/mw/release.do?id=1745830&sourceType=3