Vantagepoint Milestone Funds(1) Change Investment Strategy

WASHINGTON, March 16 /PRNewswire/ -- Vantagepoint Investment Advisers, LLC (VIA) has announced investment strategy changes to the Vantagepoint Milestone Funds. All Vantagepoint Funds invested through ICMA-RC 401 or 457 plans are held through VantageTrust.

The Milestone Funds are target-date funds that invest in underlying Vantagepoint Funds as "funds of funds," and the dated funds are offered in five-year intervals beginning with the Milestone 2010 Fund. The Milestone Funds, which marked their five-year anniversary on December 31, 2009, received the following Morningstar® ratings:

These ratings represent and are based on past performance which does not guarantee future results and should be used with their Morningstar star ratings for the 3 year and 5 year periods shown below.

Beginning in 2010, each dated Milestone Fund extended its "glide path" (i.e. the path the Fund's asset allocation follows over time) for 10 years past the year in the Fund's name. For example, Milestone 2010 now reaches its "landing point" (i.e. the point at which its asset allocation becomes constant) in 2020. As a result of this change, the Funds' portfolios have been reallocated and the asset allocations will now age more slowly over time.

"Most retirees need to protect themselves against inflation as well as preserve their capital through long retirement periods," said Wayne Wicker, senior vice president and chief investment officer of ICMA-RC. "The glide path of the dated Milestone Funds was developed not only to retirement but into retirement for an additional 10 years, and may help protect against inflation as well as preserve capital."

When a Milestone Fund reaches its landing point – 10 years after the date in its name – it has a lower percentage of its assets in underlying equity and fixed income funds and a higher percentage in a multi-strategy fund than would have been the case prior to these changes. The Milestone Retirement Income Fund revised its portfolio allocation in January 2010 and does not change its portfolio over time.

"By extending the Milestone Funds' glide path and changing the Funds' asset allocations, Vantagepoint Investment Advisors is trying to help protect retirees against the risk that they will outlive their portfolios," Wicker said. "The objective is to provide opportunities for capital growth in the earlier years and reduce the potential for loss due to market decline as well as increase the protection against inflation risk in later years."

About ICMA-RC

ICMA-RC is an independent not-for-profit corporation focused on providing retirement plans and related services for more than 900,000 public employees in more than 8,000 retirement plans.  Its mission is to help build retirement security for public employees by providing investment tools, financial education, and other retirement-related services. The corporation also works to ease the administrative responsibility of local governments that offer these benefits to their employees. For more information visit www.icmarc.org/

Disclosures

Please read the Vantagepoint Funds prospectus carefully for a complete summary of all fees, expenses, charges, financial highlights, investment objectives, risks and performance information.  Investing in mutual funds and other investment vehicles involves risk, including possible loss of the amount invested. Investors should carefully consider the Fund's investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses before investing or sending money. The prospectus contains this and other information about the investment company. All Vantagepoint Funds invested through 401 or 457 plans are held through VantageTrust. Vantagepoint Funds are distributed by ICMA-RC Services LLC, a wholly owned broker-dealer subsidiary of ICMA-RC and member FINRA/SIPC. For a current prospectus, contact ICMA-RC Services, LLC. by calling 1-800-669-7400 (TDD: 1-800-669-7471) or write to 777 North Capitol Street, NE, Washington, DC 20002-4240.  

This information is offered for investment education purposes only and is not to be construed or relied upon as investment advice. It is recommended that individuals consult with their personal financial advisor prior to implementing any financial or tax strategy.

The share values of the Vantagepoint Milestone Funds are not guaranteed at any time, including at or after each Milestone Fund's target date, which is the date when investors are expected to begin gradually making withdrawals, typically at or after retirement. The Milestone Funds' asset allocations change over time, as described in The Vantagepoint Funds prospectus.

1. Please be advised that fees and expenses are applied by the Fund and by the underlying funds. Please consult the prospectus for details.
2. Source of Vantagepoint rating and ranking data: Morningstar, Inc. ®. All rights reserved.  Morningstar, Inc., is a global investment research firm that is not affiliated with ICMA-RC. ICMA-RC does not independently verify Morningstar data.  

Percentile ranking is based on Total Return relative to all funds in the same Morningstar category. The highest (or most favorable) percentile rank is 1 and the lowest (or least favorable) percentile rank is 100. The top-performing fund in a category will always receive a rank of 1.

For each fund with at least a three-year history, Morningstar calculates a Morningstar Rating based on a Morningstar Risk-Adjusted Return measure that accounts for variation in a fund's monthly performance (including the effects of sales charges, loads, fee waivers, and redemption fees), placing more emphasis on downward variations and rewarding consistent performance.  The top 10% of funds in each category receive 5 stars, the next 22.5% receive 4 stars, the next 35% receive 3 stars, the next 22.5% receive 2 stars and the bottom 10% receive 1 star. The Overall Morningstar Rating for a fund is derived from a weighted average of the performance figures associated with its three-, five- and ten-year (if applicable) Morningstar Rating metrics. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.   

    
    
    Vantagepoint 
    Milestone Funds                   #Invest-       #Invest-       #Invest-
    Data as of    Morningstar  1 Year  ments  3 Year  ments  5 Year  ments
    12/31/2009     Category     Rank   1 Year  Rank   3 Year  Rank   5 Year
    
    Vantagepoint 
     Milestone                  
     Retirement    Retirement
     Income         Income       70     134     24     85      19     56
                               
    Vantagepoint   
     Milestone     Target Date
     2010           2000-2010    85     201     14    137      15     55
                                
    Vantagepoint   
     Milestone     Target Date 
     2015           2011-2015    70     153     17     87      16     34
    
    Vantagepoint                
     Milestone     Target Date
     2020           2016-2020    63     212      9    127       9     61
                              
    Vantagepoint 
     Milestone     Target Date
     2025           2021-2025    73     127     15     63      24     22
                              
    Vantagepoint  
     Milestone     Target Date
     2030           2026-2030    68     200     13    123       6     58
                             
    Vantagepoint 
     Milestone     Target Date
     2035           2031-2035    58     121     16     63      24     22
                            
    Vantagepoint   
     Milestone     Target Date
     2040           2036-2040    51     193     14    106      10     53
    
    
    
    Vantagepoint              Morningstar  Morningstar  Morningstar 
    Milestone Funds             Overall       3 Year       5 Year
    Data as of    Morningstar    Star          Star         Star      
    12/31/2009     Category     Rating        Rating       Rating      
    
    Vantagepoint 
     Milestone                                                  
     Retirement   Retirement
     Income        Income          3            4            3
                                                                           
    Vantagepoint
     Milestone    Target Date
     2010          2000-2010       4            4            4
                                                                           
    Vantagepoint 
     Milestone    Target Date
     2015          2011-2015       4            4            4
                                                                           
    Vantagepoint 
     Milestone    Target Date
     2020          2016-2020       5            5            5
                                                                           
    Vantagepoint  
     Milestone    Target Date
     2025          2021-2025       4            4            4
                                                                           
    Vantagepoint 
     Milestone    Target Date
     2030          2026-2030       5            4            5
                                                                           
    Vantagepoint 
     Milestone    Target Date
     2035          2031-2035       4            4            4
                                                                           
    Vantagepoint 
     Milestone    Target Date
     2040          2036-2040       4            4            4
    

SOURCE ICMA-RC