While almost all providers and funds companies have adopted target date funds over the past five years, Seligman has been pursuing this strategy since 1995 in their “Time Horizon Matrix” giving them a significant advantage and rich historical data.

Founded in 1864, Seligman entered into the bundled 401(k) market in 1995 and currently has a partnership with BISYS. Of the $19.5 billion in assets under management, approximately $900 million are within DC plans with 1,400 plans record kept by BISYS representing 60% of those assets.

Seligman’s Time Horizon Matrix offers 30 portfolios, each based on the number of years until retirement.  The portfolios, much like managed accounts, have traditionally used proprietary funds as building blocks with up to 14 funds in each portfolio representing a wide variety of asset classes. In 2004, Seligman opened up the Matrix to outside funds that a plan may choose to include within the asset class categories of the Matrix.  

98% of Seligman’s plans offer the Seligman Time Horizon Matrix and 70% of the participants in those plans use the strategy. Average account balances for these participants are more than double the average according to a Seligman spokesperson.

Separately, the firm recently introduced five registered target date mutual funds, Seligman TargETFunds, employing the Time Horizon Matrix strategy and with ETFs as the underlying investments.  In addition to TargETFunds 2045, 2035, 2025, and 2015, sponsors looking for a multi-asset class balanced default fund for automatically enrolled participants can choose TargETFund Core.

With 20 outside wholesalers and five retirement specialists dedicated to the DC market, Seligman sells exclusively to advisors with a strong presence in the wire-houses. Their sweet spot is plans with $1-$5 million in assets, but they will take smaller plans and start-ups. Advisors looking for a provider experienced in asset allocation in general and target date funds in particular will find Seligman to be a good choice.

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