Morningstar Runs the Numbers

Inspired by Harper's Index (with a tip of the hat to FiveThirtyEight's Significant Digits blog), Morningstar Runs the Numbers uses a numbers-based approach to highlight recent Morningstar research, along with some outside news stories.

$227 billion in AUM From Leo Acheson's Fund Spy post on Morningstar's latest annual report on 529 college savings plans:

The 529 college savings market has nearly doubled over the past five years, reaching a record-high $227 billion in assets under management as of year-end 2015.

You can download the full 529 report here.

3 buckets for retirement In an interview with Matt Coffina, Christine Benz makes the case for a three-bucket approach for retirement portfolios:

The advantage of having three buckets--cash (bucket 1), intermediate-term assets such as bonds (bucket 2), and long-term assets like stocks (bucket 3)--is that a retiree can readily see which parts of the portfolio have appreciated the most and could be pruned for living expenses.

For more on the bucket approach, watch Christine's interview with Harold Evensky.

Almost 600 years ago Affluent families in Florence are likely descended from the city's wealthy families of 1427:

1.1 Christopher Higgins notes the current price/fair value ratio for U.S. defense contractors in this Morningstar Minute video:

We are reinitiating coverage on major U.S. defense contractors Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, General Dynamics, and Northrop Grumman. Currently the sector is trading at a 1.1 price/fair value ratio, which indicates to us that there are few bargains to be had.

20 percent

with Christine Benz:

… I think there are a few reasons. One, the main one that they are pointing to, is that they do sort of an annual review of how funds' rules are set up versus competitors and that they felt that this would put them more in line with other funds. And that they--combined with the idea that they want to be able to be opportunistic as things pop up that look like a good idea for the fund--they want to have the freedom to do it.

$61

:

We are maintaining our wide economic moat rating and $61 fair value estimate, and we think the shares remain among the most attractive in the software space.

Zero days According to the AON Hewitt 401(k) index, 401(k) participants weren't very active during the month of April:

In total, 0.16% of balances traded in April--down from 0.25% in March. There were zero days of above-normal trading activity for the month.

$560 billion = 1 basis point How much lower can Vanguard go? According to Ben Johnson:

… the larger Vanguard gets and the lower fees go, the more money it takes to move the needle. The company estimates that a 1-basis-point (0.01%) firmwide reduction in its expense ratio now requires approximately $560 billion in net new assets.

And on the other end of the investment fee spectrum, after poor performance and client withdrawals, Tudor Investment Corp. has, uh, slashed the fees of its largest hedge fund share class to 2.25 percent of assets and 25% of profits.

Most Popular Articles, Videos, and Securities

Most Popular Articles

• 3 High-Quality Stocks to Buy Now
• Retirement Bucket Basics: A Q&A With Morningstar's Christine Benz
• A Risk Drill for Your Retirement Portfolio
• Painful Valeant Debacle Spurs Improvements at Sequoia
• 6 U.S. Equity Funds for Risk-Averse Investors

Most Popular Videos

• PIMCO Total Return's High-Yield Play
• PIMCO's Kiesel: Credit Market Is Attractive
• Our Favorite Way to Invest in a Rebounding Housing Market
• Subtle Differences Separate These 2 Fine Bond Funds
• Newly Reopened Small-Cap Fund a Compelling Investment

Most Requested Stock Quotes Apple Berkshire Hathaway Disney Gilead Sciences Amazon

Bayer

HollyFrontier

Visa

Gilead Sciences

Apple

Most Requested Fund Quotes Vanguard Dividend Growth Fidelity Contrafund Vanguard Wellesley Income Vanguard 500 Index Vanguard Wellington

Most Requested Fund Analyses

Vanguard Dividend Growth

Vanguard Wellesley Income

Vanguard Wellington

FMI International

Mairs & Power Growth

Most Requested ETF Quotes SPDR S&P 500 Vanguard Dividend Appreciation Vanguard High Dividend Yield Vanguard Total Stock Market Vanguard REIT

Most Requested ETF Analyses

Vanguard Dividend Appreciation

Vanguard High Dividend Yield

Schwab US Dividend Equity

Vanguard Short-Term Inflation-Protected Securities

Vanguard Total Stock Market