Capital Ideas^™ 
Investment insights from Capital Group

Millions of investors rely on their target date funds to not only help grow wealth, but preserve that wealth during bouts of market volatility. Traditionally, target date providers have relied on high-quality bonds to help provide this balance.

But credit quality can vary significantly within these funds’ bond exposure, even within investment-grade credit (rated BBB/Baa and above). Investment-grade bonds of lower credit quality have tended to fare worse in equity-market downturns. And the risk could be rising in today’s uncertain economic environment, given increased corporate leverage and a rise in lower quality bond issuance.

While this presents downside risks to all participants, investors closer to or in retirement are particularly vulnerable. To evaluate a series’ potential to cushion downturns, plan sponsors may want to closely examine their series’ fixed income portfolio — both in isolation and in relation to the equity portion of the glide path. 

An abundance of riskier credit

Ultra-low interest rates have led some investors to extend down the credit spectrum in search of yield. As a result, lower quality issuance has surged in the investment-grade market. Indeed, credits in the lowest rung of investment-grade now make up nearly one-half of the total U.S. investment-grade corporate bond market, according to J.P. Morgan. That’s up from a low of about 20% in 1992.

And while these bonds do generate higher income, they behave more like equities when it comes to risk. For example, during the first-quarter equity selloff, BBB bonds (the lowest rung) posted a –7.39% return, according to an analysis of the Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Aggregate Index. In contrast, the AAA portion of the index posted a 5.81% gain. Although good security selection can help overcome this vulnerability, these lower quality bonds also risk becoming “fallen angels” via rating downgrades — potentially exposing investors to further losses. 

BBB bonds have lagged in corrections

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As a result of BBB’s history of increased risk, plan sponsors may want to take a closer look at the credit quality of target date funds. For example, a passive series tracking major bond indexes could have seen its BBB exposure increase alongside the broader market. An actively managed series may have also taken on more credit risk by investing in lower quality investment-grade credits in a reach for yield.

We saw this trend when examining the BBB exposure of the four largest 2025 target date funds by mutual fund assets. As of June 30, the sole passively managed fund in that group had 20.8% of its fixed income assets in BBB bonds — up from just 15.2% five years earlier. Among the other three, actively managed funds, BBB exposure varied a lot — ranging from 9.5% to 19.8%, according to Morningstar data.

To be sure, exposure to high-yield and BBB-rated bonds is not always problematic. Yet, the big risk comes when these bonds are paired with an equity-heavy glide path, especially near retirement. This combination of more volatile assets can impair a target date fund’s ability to cushion market declines. 

Questions to evaluate risk

When evaluating a target date series, plan sponsors should consider the underlying bond risk and how that risk integrates with equities — particularly in vintages in and near retirement. Ask questions such as:

• What is the mix of investment-grade credit, high-yield and government bonds throughout the glide path?
• How does the exposure to BBB bonds vary over time?
• How much equity is being used alongside BBB and high-yield bonds?

These questions will become more important as millions of participants near retirement and become more sensitive to downside risk.

To learn more about credit risk in target date funds, download our white paper. Use our Target Date ProView^SM comparison tool to see how different target date providers approach fixed income.