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How to Read the Investment Fund Tables


 For a $10,000 Investment
Annual Fees Long-Term Fees Average Result in 10 Years Downside Result in 10 Years Upside Result in 10 Years

Fund Name

1 2 3 4 5

1. Annual Fees – Annual fees for a $10,000 investment in each fund (these reduce the net result you get).
Why It's Important: These fees reduce any wealth produced by the investment fund. Other things being equal, you may want to consider selecting funds with lower fees.

2. Long-Term Fees – The total fees that would be charged for a $10,000 investment held for 30 years.*
Why It's Important: You should plan for the long term. You could own these funds up to retirement and beyond. Also, even small fees compound over time and have a large impact on your nest egg.

3. Average Result – What a $10,000 investment might grow to in 10 years (after fees) if the fund has average performance.*
Why It's Important: This figure gives you an idea of possible results you can expect if you choose to invest in this fund. You can compare different funds to see whether their predicted results are similar.

4. Downside Result – What a $10,000 investment might grow to in 10 years (after fees) if the fund has poor performance.*
Why It's Important: This figure gives you an idea of results you might expect if financial markets are performing poorly. A large difference between the Average Result and the Downside Result indicates that the fund is more sensitive to changes in the economy and therefore has a greater potential for short-term loss.

5. Upside Result – What a $10,000 investment might grow to in 10 years (after fees) if the fund has strong performance.*
Why It's Important: This figure gives you an idea of results you might expect if financial markets are performing well.

* These results are shown in "Today's Dollars" to adjust for the impact of inflation. Inflation is a general rise in prices over time. Because $1 today will buy less than $1 in the future, we've adjusted these amounts to show you their buying power today.

 

About Financial Engines® and Their 10-Year Estimates of Investment Fund Results
Financial Engines is a federally registered investment advisor that serves the FRS in a fiduciary capacity. Under Florida law, this means that they are held to the highest standards of expertise and conduct on behalf of participants in the FRS. Financial Engines has no vested interest in which investment funds are chosen and currently serves 1.9 million users outside of the FRS. Its services are based on the Nobel Prize-winning work of Professor Bill Sharpe and have been widely recognized in the media for their value to individual investors. Financial Engines uses sophisticated financial models to identify how different investment funds might perform under a wide range of possible economic and financial scenarios. Inflation, interest rates, 15 asset categories, a fund's specific investment attributes, fees and risk are all taken into consideration through a combination of historical experience and expert judgment. These models generate roughly 10,000 possible future scenarios to show investors a realistic range of future performance for individual investment funds.

The Average Result, Downside Result and Upside Result assume a hypothetical investment of $10,000, net of any applicable fees or charges. The Average Result, Downside Result and Upside Result are not guarantees of future results, but only reasonable estimates based upon forward-looking models of the economy and securities markets that use such data as historical returns, historical correlations, expected growth rates and calculated-risk premiums. Since past performance is not always an accurate predictor of the future, and reliance on historical and current data necessarily involves certain inherent limitations, you must understand that the future performance estimates are only a tool to be used in evaluating your portfolio and not a substitute for your informed judgment. Fees were estimated based on January 2002 data. Fees and styles may change.

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