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The principal investment strategies of the Vantagepoint Milestone 2025 Fund are to invest
in a combination of underlying Vantagepoint Funds using an asset allocation strategy
designed for investors expecting to retire around the year 2025. At the
Fund’s inception, the Fund allocated approximately 80% of its assets to
equity Funds and approximately 20% of its assets to fixed income Funds. Beginning in
October 2007, the Fund began to allocate up to 10% of its assets to certain underlying
Funds to gain exposure to asset classes and strategies that have historically exhibited
a low correlation to traditional fixed income and equity investments
(“multi-strategy Funds”). As time elapses, the
Fund’s allocation to underlying equity Funds is decreased and the
Fund’s allocation to fixed income Funds is increased so that by June 30 of
the year 2025, the Fund’s assets will be invested approximately 30% in
equity Funds, 60% in fixed income Funds and 10% in multi-strategy Funds.
The investment strategy is implemented by investing in the following Vantagepoint Funds
at target allocations within the percentage ranges indicated as of the date of this prospectus:
Subject to the supervision of the Board of Directors, VIA may, at its discretion,
increase or decrease the target allocations to the underlying Funds within the
allocation ranges noted above. To the extent that the target allocations to the
underlying Funds are increased or decreased, VIA will do so within the above-stated
allocations to fixed income, equity and multi-strategy Funds. VIA may also use other
Vantagepoint Funds from the list of candidate Funds to fulfill the asset class
allocations.
The underlying Funds’ fixed income holdings consist mainly of a diversified
mix of U.S. Government, U.S. agency, and investment-grade corporate bonds of varying
maturities. The Vantagepoint Low Duration Bond Fund has been included to seek to reduce
the overall volatility of the Milestone 2025 Fund’s share price.
The underlying Funds’ equity holdings consist of large-, mid- and
small-capitalization U.S. stocks and large-capitalization stocks of developed countries.
In the multi-strategy Fund category, to seek to enhance the Fund’s
diversification, the Diversified Assets Fund seeks to provide exposure to asset classes
and strategies that have historically had a low correlation to those of the other
Vantagepoint Funds. The Diversified Assets Fund employs global tactical asset allocation
strategies and a global bond strategy that seek to provide exposure to U.S. and foreign
stock markets, U.S. and foreign bond markets and instruments and currencies. The
Diversified Assets Fund uses derivative instruments to seek to achieve desired market
exposure, enhance portfolio efficiency, or manage risk.
Vantagepoint Milestone Funds Aging Chart
As time elapses, the Fund’s allocation to equity Funds is decreased and the Fund’s allocation to fixed income Funds is increased. This progression from a more aggressive investment strategy to a more conservative strategy is known as the "aging path." On October 30, 2007 a multi-strategy component was added to the fund. The chart below, developed by Vantagepoint Investment Advisors, LLC ("VIA"), is a visual representation of this aging path and the arrow at the top of the chart indicates approximately the target allocation for the fund at this time.
By approximately June 30 of the year designated in each of the dated Fund’s name, VIA expects to have reduced the Fund’s allocations to approximately 30% equity funds, 60% fixed income funds, and 10% in a multi-strategy fund. For a complete list of the most current target allocations for the component funds that make up this Milestone Fund, please refer to the Component Fund section below.
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During the first quarter the securities markets -- fixed and equity, foreign and domestic -- reflected the combined effects of the continuing flight to quality, U.S. led liquidity constraints, fears of a U.S. recession possibly developing, and inflation remaining above Federal Reserve targets. Unemployment rose to 5.1% at March 31, over 200,000 jobs were lost in the quarter, consumer confidence continued to drop, and housing prices declined further.
The Federal Reserve moved aggressively to attempt to stem the liquidity crisis, mitigate recessionary risks, and thereby reduce market fears and volatility by:
U.S. stocks posted their worst quarter since 2002, with losses across all reported market capitalization sizes, and with both growth and value styles posting losses. The S&P 500 dropped 9.45% in the quarter, with all sectors showing negative performance. On January 21, foreign markets, as reflected by the MSCI World ex US Index dropped 5.57%, with the Asian markets suffering the largest one day decline since September 11, 2001. After years of outperformance, Emerging Market stocks as represented by the MSCI Emerging Markets Index, underperformed developed markets, with a decrease of 10.92%.
Fixed income markets responded to the forces of declining Treasury rates, flight to quality, and inflation risk concerns by providing returns that varied considerably between fixed income market sectors. Based on Lehman Brothers indexes, long maturity U.S. Treasuries gained approximately 4.43% for the quarter while the High Yield sector lost approximately 3.02%. Inflation protected securities funds, based on Morningstar average fund performance data, increased approximately 4.81% for the quarter as the flight to quality and inflation concerns boosted performance.
The Milestone 2025 Fund’s performance reflected broad market trends with the fixed income component contributing most to return for the quarter. Within the Fund’s fixed income allocation, the Vantagepoint Low Duration Bond Fund earned 1.34%, and the Core Bond Index Fund rose 2.23%. The multi-strategy Vantagepoint Diversified Assets Fund ended the quarter nearly unchanged with a loss of 0.20%. Among domestic equities, the Vantagepoint Equity Income Fund fell 9.30%, the Vantagepoint Growth and Income Fund declined 10.32%, and the Vantagepoint Growth Fund fell 10.53%. The Vantagepoint Mid/Small Company Index Fund declined 9.55%. Foreign equity markets experienced milder losses than the U.S. equity market as evidenced by the Vantagepoint International Fund which was down 8.45% for the quarter.
* The Fund's return does not include applicable plan administration fees, if any. Please refer to the performance table above for the precise return earned by your plan.