Help for a friend's 401k Choices

[fatman22]

Hello!
A friend of mine is asking which would be a good choice for her company 401K,

She is contributing up to the match and has the following choices available.

003008 - Reed, Conner and Birdwell, Inc. .85 ER
007808 - ABN AMRO Stable Value .5 ER
025208 - FMT/Royce Micro-Cap Inv 1.81 ER
025808 - FMT/Vanguard GNMA .5 ER
032108 - Eagle Global Advisors, LLC .81 ER
032408 - Smith Group Asset Management .75
052209 - LifeStyle Income and Conservative Growth Strategy .62 ER
052309 - LifeStyle Conservative Growth Strategy .7 ER
052409 - LifeStyle Moderate Growth Strategy .80
052509 - LifeStyle Aggressive Growth Strategy .87
056408 - Washington Capital Management .85
062708 - NWQ Investment Management, LLC .8
062908 - Tradewinds NWQ Global Investors, LLC 1.0
067208 - FMT/American Funds Growth Fund of Amer. R4 .75 ER
069208 - FMT/iShares Russell Mid-Cap Value Index ETF .66
069308 - FMT/iShares Russell Mid-Cap Growth Index ETF .60 ER
075008 - Metropolitan West Capital Mgmt, LLC Small Cap Value .85 ER
,
The current allocation is

70 % LifeStyle Aggressive Growth Strategy .87
10% Eagle Global Advisors, LLC .81 ER
10 % Tradewinds NWQ Global Investors, LLC 1.0
10 % Company Stock (Regional Bank)

Thank you,
-Fatman

The account is currenly under 5K and I recommended the Midcap Value as a sole holding.

 

[travelover]

It is generally a good idea to determine your overall asset allocation first, then determine the best fund in the 401(k) that fits in this allocation. Then, round out your asset allocation with IRA and taxable account investments where you have more flexibility.

These investments all have medium to high expenses, so I'd tend to go with one with the lowest ER that fits in the AA.

PS If you don't have an AA, you really do need to start there. Ask for recommendations if you don't know where to start to develop an AA.

 

[Animorph]

Most of those seem to be management names and not a lot of clues as to what they invest in. I do invest in Royce Micro Cap (RYOTX), so I can recommend whatever version of that this is, though the ER is high.

Do what travelover said. You should also have past performance data available to you on the 401k website. Look at that and see how performance compares to similar index funds. Pick the least objectionable funds that match your AA in the 401k and fill in with other accounts if you can.