Target-date funds are proving most popular among women and younger retirement investors, according to MassMutual's Retirement Services Division.
In the first quarter of this year, 28.4 percent of women's retirement savings were in asset allocation accounts, compared to 27.7 percent of men's retirement savings, MassMutual data showed.
Those allocations have jumped by 42 percent for women over the past five years, and increased 38 percent for men.
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In addition, the data found that millennials, those between the ages of 20 and 37, are moving into target-date funds and other asset allocation strategies more than Generation Xers, those ages 36 to 48, baby boomers, those ages 49 to 68, or members of the Silent Generation, those ages 69 and older.
In the first quarter of 2014, 52.1 percent of the retirement savings for millennials were in asset allocation accounts, up 3.3 percent from the same period last year.
"We attribute the growth in popularity to more employers offering target-date funds to meet a growing demand," said Elaine Sarsynski, executive vice president of MassMutual's Retirement Services Division.
"American workers are opting for retirement savings strategies that are simpler to understand, easier to manage, and reflect their changing needs as they approach retirement."
Indeed, investments in asset allocation accounts have soared by 39 percent since 2009, according to Sarsynski.
"Choosing from a menu of a dozen or sometimes even dozens of different investment options and then figuring out what percentage of your retirement dollars to allocate between them can be mind-numbingly complex," said Farnoosh Torabi, a financial planning coach and author who consults for MassMutual.
"Target-date funds offer an easy solution for many people, providing instant diversification, risk management and asset reallocation as they approach retirement," Torabi said.
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