Current "Stable Value" Fund Returns ?

[Delawaredave5]

Most Megacorp 401Ks have a "stable value" fund. I assume most of these are various insurance contracts.

Two questions:
1. What are these returning today ? My Megacorp's is 2.69% currently.

2. When/if interest rates rise, will the returns on these lag ?

I thought I heard these are "more sticky on the way down" - meaning that when overall interest rates fall, companies keep the contracts with higher returns and benefit. When interest rates are rising, there's these insurance contracts can be cancelled and other contacts purchased with higher current returns.

Thanks !

 

[rodi]

Ours is just above 2.6%.

I think ours is based on annuities - so it's sticky in both directions. Higher interest rates now because the fund holds annuities bought back when interest rates were higher... It's been steadily declining in payout for the past few years... I would imagine it would be slow to creep up, but would go up, when interest rates rise again.

 

[John Galt III]

I was getting 3.2 percent on my Stab Val as of April of 2013. Haven't checked it since. Years ago it was as high as 5 percent.

 

[RetireAge50]

1 Year 2.37%
3 Year 3.05%
5 Year 3.55%
10 Year 4.01%

See attached

 

[RockyMtn]

1 Yr 2.19%
3 Yr 2.66%
5 Yr 3.10%
10 Yr 3.80%
Life of Fund 4.44%

Fidelity Standish Stable Value

 

[target2019]

Ours is largely the Invesco Stable Value Portfolio, which is 2.6% as of June 30.

In my plan I see YTD of 0.83.

 

[padlin00]

1.83% last 12M, 1.34% YTD.

 

[jazz4cash]

The SV fund is one of the main reasons I left my old 401k open. I don't even use the SV fund in my current 401k.



Old 401k
1yr 3yr 5yr Life of Fund (1978)
2.62% 2.97% 3.16% 4.14%
Current 401k
1yr 3yr 5yr Life of Fund ( 2008)
1.31% 2.06% 2.48% 2.69%

 

[tuixiu]

2.5%

 

[bUU]

The closest thing we have is returning 0.00%.

I really appreciate them carrying the precision out to two decimal places.

 

[GalaxyBoy]

We have two in our plan. One has a 1-year return of 1.02% with an ER of 0.41%; the other has a 1-year return of 0.13% with an ER of 0.16%.

Gotta love those returns and expenses.

 

[seraphim]

About 2.5. Currently maintaining them as a large portion of my bond allocation.

 

[NW-Bound]

Stable Value Fund in my wife's 401k: 1.1%YTD, 1.49% last 12 months.

 

[veremchuka]

I left money in my 401k to take advantage of my Stable Value fund. Annualized it will be 3.15%.

 

[foxfirev5]

1.24% - 100% Treasuries

 

[tuixiu]

About 2.5. Currently maintaining them as a large portion of my bond allocation.

Ditto. We rearranged asset allocations all over the portfolio's tax deferred accounts just to get my wife's 457 having all of the bond slice of the pie, just to be able to stash it in the stable value fund at 2.5%.

 

[sengsational]

I didn't know ours was on the high side until now... 3.5%

 

[NW-Bound]

Yeah, most of these funds are so stable, they hardly move! Or rather, Bernanke won't let them move.

Oh well, it's still better than the bond fund in my wife's 401k, which is down -0.87% YTD, and -0.25% last 12 months. Of course, there are some bond funds that do worse.

There's a poster here who's been 100% in equities. That turns out to be the best move. However, this late in the game, I am not going to chase after US equities. Been moving more into some emerging markets, which have been beaten down bad.

PS. My mixture of I-bonds is 2%YTD, 2.8% last 12 months, and I have more of that than in the stinkin' stable fund.

 

[jime444]

Just a smidgen under 3.5%. And a healthy % of my current 401k in it since it's the money to use first. The rest of the investment options really blow with this megaCorp employer. If it wasn't for the great match, I'd be after-taxing it at Vanguard.

 

[padlin00]

You asked if the returns lag the market. Based on observing our GIC fund for the last 30+ years, yes they lag, they follow interest rates but very slowly, in both directions. Ours are insured bundles or mortgages so the slow lag makes sense.

 

[Cat-tirement]

The stable value fund in my 401k is currently listing as yielding a little over 2%, though I don't use it. DW's 403b has a "fixed income option" where they lock a return rate for six months at a time, and announce it in advance. It has been at 3% since 2009. Earlier this year I moved almost half our bond allocation into it.

 

[GalaxyBoy]

We have two in our plan. One has a 1-year return of 1.02% with an ER of 0.41%; the other has a 1-year return of 0.13% with an ER of 0.16%.

Gotta love those returns and expenses.

Forgot to check DW's funds in her 457 plan. The YTD return on the "stable value fund" is 1.33%.

 

[Brierfield]

I retired back in July and left my SV fund with my former employer.

It is currently paying 2.9%

 

[jollystomper]

2.4%.

 

[wrichards58]

Vanguard

2.4%.

Does vanguard have a stable fund