Allocations between income-growth investments and income risk management investments shift over time to become more conservative as individuals near retirement age, as well as through retirement, to manage relevant risks and support retirement consumption.

“A good target date solution should balance the tradeoffs between growth investments and an appropriate risk-hedging asset,” David Booth, chairman and co-CEO, said in a statement.

He added, “Our target date strategies are designed to manage relevant risks, in particular, interest rate and inflation risks, so investors are less exposed to the effects of random market forces. This may reduce uncertainty about how much consumption their investments will support in retirement, and enable plan sponsors, consultants, and financial advisors to use meaningful information about expected retirement consumption to help investors plan for a more successful retirement.”

While there’s been plenty of discussion in the industry about managing risk, there hasn’t been all that much about the risk to the retiree of inflation. The general target-date fund plans for risk in the type of investment, but not the risk to the retiree of inflation eating away at savings.

Earlier this year a patented target-date allocation model, christened Safe Landing Glide Path, took some of this into account by transitioning its investors almost exclusively into cash and Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities (TIPS).