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bee
December 2013
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msf
December 2013
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Comments
Target Date 2051+Funds:
finance.yahoo.com/funds/lists/?mod_id=mediaquotesmutualfunds&cat=$FOCA$TL$$
(Actually, a tip off is that all the funds have the same ER. The funds are comprised of underlying index funds each with their own (different) ERs. So it's highly improbable that all the funds of funds would have the identical ER including acquired fund costs, unless the ER were rigged via a waiver.)
The waivers range from 9 to 11 basis points (i.e. about 70% of the current ER), and are set to expire May 31, 2016.
Likely you also wouldn't know about these funds from Fidelity, since they're nowhere to be found on the retail pages. It looks like they are only available to retirement plans (e.g. 401k plans). Here's Fidelity's 6 page glossy, via Union College.
In the 90s, Fidelity started orienting its company toward gathering retirement plan assets. This is when Magellan became an index hugger (and worse), and when Fidelity clamped down on its managers. Fidelity seems to be using these index funds as part of that strategy (keeping quiet about them except to employers).
To bee's comment/link - you won't find Fidelity Freedom Index funds listed there (even though another Fidelity employer-only series, Strategic Advisers Muliti-Manager, is there). According to Univ. of Michigan's announcement when they transitioned from Freedom Funds to Freedom Index Funds, the two sets of funds are supposed to be following similar strategies (which I assume means similar glide path). So the Freedom Index funds likely performed similarly to the Freedom funds.
I spot checked the 2030 fund - Fidelity's index fund underperformed Fidelity's comparable actively managed fund by 55 basis points over the past three years. (The Freedom Index funds are four years old.) Haven't checked whether this is due to different glide paths, or inferior performance by the underlying index funds.