Mutual Funds & ETFs
Low Investment Expenses
Lower expenses equate to higher participant returns
Every mutual fund has a price tag and, apples-to-apples, the lower the expense, the higher the net return. Even small differences in fees from one fund to another can add up to substantial differences in your investment returns over time, says the SEC. ¹
American 401k is designed with low fund expenses as our primary focus.
¹ “Investor Bulletin Mutual Fund Fees and Expenses.” Securities Exchange Commission, www.sec.gov/files/ib_mutualfundfees.pdf Accessed 24 Nov. 2023
Index funds keep expenses in check
Index funds in our menu have a very low average expense ratio of under .05%.
This average expense is subject to change and depends on the specific funds that you choose for your lineup.
When you consider the impact that expenses have on long-term returns, it’s easy to understand why the fund decisions are some of the most important within a 401k. We help you with research materials, giving you an in-depth view of the funds and the tools you need to make a careful evaluation of the investment lineup.
American 401k Has:
✅ no transaction fees
✅ no employer-related investment expenses
✅ no hidden fees
Lowest Expense Share Classes
American 401k uses institutional funds regardless of your plan size
Institutional share class mutual funds are the lowest expense among a variety of share classes available for any 401k.
They are superior to other share classes because the lower expense ratios translate into higher returns. Gaining access to these lower-expense institutional share classes is a significant plus, when comparing 401k providers.
Investment Universe
15,000+ Funds & ETFs
American 401k offers one of the most expansive selections of funds in an open-architecture universe, which means access to most all mutual funds and ETFs available for investing in any 401k!
15,000+ funds & 1,000+ ETFs, access to all mutual funds & ETFs available to any 401k
Vanguard, Fidelity, Charles Schwab, JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs, American Funds, T. Rowe Price, BlackRock, & hundreds more of the top-shelf investment managers
Vanguard index funds are all included, in addition to actively managed funds
Target date funds from any fund family of your choice
No limit on the # of investment slots in your 401k, changes at any time free of charge
All major investment categories are covered for employee selections
ESG and Socially Responsible Investments available in American 401k
Index & Active Funds
Much discussion surrounding fund selection has focused on the performance of index funds vs. active fund management results. While there are studies to support one tactic over the other, there will never be a definitive answer to which is effectively a better approach. Investors may be best served via a combination of both, so American 401k’s investment menu incorporates both strategies in a broadly diversified universe of mutual fund and ETF choices.
Index Funds
Index funds, AKA Passive funds, are constructed with the goal of tracking or replicating the performance of the underlying index, such as the S&P 500. Essentially, index funds are designed to mirror the performance of the respective index without entailing any active management, forecasting, or selection of underlying stocks.
MERITS
By tracking an index, an investment portfolio typically experiences fair diversification
They have lower trading costs than actively managed funds as they have low turnover of holdings
They don’t require an active manager and thus, are very low investment expenses
CONSIDERATIONS
Index funds will never outperform the market
Active Funds
Actively managed funds employ a portfolio investing strategy where the manager makes specific selections with the goal of outperforming an investment benchmark index. Active management is the opposite of passive management because in passive management the manager does not seek to outperform the benchmark index.
MERITS
There is the ability to react to market conditions and adjust a portfolio accordingly
Each manager will use their own stock selection skills in their endeavor to outperform
Managers will buy targeted stocks when they believe the price is right
CONSIDERATIONS
Higher trading costs than passive funds, as they have a greater turnover of holdings
An active fund could underperform the market
Socially Responsible Investing (SRI)
Empowering employees to align their investments with their values, ESG-themed and SRI investments are conveniently built into your investment menu options with both indexed funds, as well as actively managed solutions.
The two most popular responsible investing strategies are Environmental, Social, Governance (ESG), and Socially Responsible Investing (SRI). While there is a lot of overlap in these two strategies, they do ultimately represent different ways to grade investment opportunities.
Environmental, Social, & Governance (ESG) investing refers to a set of standards for a company’s behavior used by socially conscious investors to screen potential investments.
Environmental criteria consider how a company safeguards the environment and natural resources, including corporate policies addressing climate change, as one example.
Social criteria examine how a business manages relationships with employees, suppliers, customers, and the communities in which it operates.
Governance is the leadership structure of an organization and the policies and procedures in place to operate in an ethical manner including management of impacts to people and the environment, internal controls, and shareholder rights.
The full scope of an ESG strategy examines not only how an organization is presently performing in these areas, but also how it plans to meet future targets for improvement and long-term sustainability.
Socially Responsible Investing (SRI) is an investing strategy that aims to generate both social change and financial returns for an investor. It is a way to select only those investments that align with your morals and values. Socially responsible investments include companies making a positive, sustainable, or social uplifting impact and exclude those making a negative impact.
Since everyone has different values, how investors define SRI is subjective, varying from person to person. There are no metric-based assessments carried out, yet an SRI strategy evaluates using other criteria including:
companies that are engaged in social justice
environmental sustainability and alternative energy/clean technology efforts
fair labor practices
While the criteria used to judge SRI may overlap with those measured through ESG, SRI is a subjective criterion which can be refined based on one’s own investment views. Keep in mind that funds managed to an ESG and/or SRI strategy may select or exclude securities for reasons other than financial performance. Investing in funds that follow these strategies involves the risk that fund performance will differ from similar funds that do not utilize these strategies.
In Summary
Investors can enjoy the benefits of dual approaches when both active and passive funds have been included in the lineup. At times, active managers may outperform the benchmarks and capture some alpha in markets that tend to be less efficient, while other times a passive fund will provide steady returns with low expenses.
Either way, an open-architecture design is the most versatile investment structure for employers because it enables freedom of choice. Which is why American 401k uses an open-architecture design.
Past performance is not a guarantee nor indication of future returns.