BlackRock LifePath Index Target-Date Series

The BlackRock LifePath Index target-date series’ exceptional team, robust resources, and well-calibrated approach continue to earn a Morningstar Analyst Rating of Gold for its cheapest share classes and Silver for its more expensive ones.

This index-based series benefits from BlackRock’s robust approach to asset allocation and a research-intensive culture. The trailblazing team continues to challenge the status quo and expand its toolkit. Its most recent initiative broke down the Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond Index to its key underlying components to pinpoint the optimal duration and credit risks across the glide path. Most index-based target-date series make duration and credit tilts across the glide path by adding exposures to complement the Aggregate Index; however, with the removal of it here, the team can be more meticulous in its exposures. For example, the series’ retirement vintage includes an underweight in both intermediate and long credit and an overweight in intermediate and long government bonds compared with the previous Aggregate Index fund’s exposure. This should benefit investors and provide better diversification benefits against equity drawdowns.

Bold and cutting-edge changes are not uncommon for this series. At the end of November 2014, the team’s research into investors’ behaviors and preferences, as well as updated capital market assumptions, sparked a sizable glide path shift. At that time, management upped this series’ equity exposure as high as 16 percentage points across the glide path, which put it higher than most peers throughout the glide path. Notably, at the onset of the glide path, the equity allocation sits at 99% up from 96%. Other target-date providers have also followed suit. These changes demonstrate the team’s dedication to continual improvements and its forward-thinking nature.

As this premier team with topnotch resources continues to enhance this low-cost solution, we have confidence it will continue to reward investors over the long term.

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