TSP Funds Bounce Back in July
After losses in June, stock-based funds all end the month up more than 3 percent.
All of the funds in the federal employee retirement savings program ended July in the black, following a mixed performance in June.
The Thrift Savings Plan’s S Fund, invested in small and midsized companies, had the highest growth for July, gaining 5.4 percent. It was up 8.26 percent for the year to date.
The international stocks in the I Fund were a close second, increasing 5.07 percent in July. They had much more modest returns for 2016, however, gaining 1.46 percent for the year so far.
The common stocks in the C Fund earned 3.69 percent for July and had the second highest gains for 2016, at 7.70 percent.
Fixed income bonds in the F Fund were up a modest 0.64 percent for the month of July and 6.17 percent for the year to date. The stable government securities (G) fund grew 0.13 percent for July and 1.06 percent for the year to date.
TSP officials during the retirement plan’s monthly meeting last week noted that participants may have panicked following market losses in June, when the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union, and moved their money out of stock-based funds and into the safer but usually lower yield G Fund.
“If someone did that and stayed in the G Fund, they would have missed the market growth that we experienced in July,” said Kim Weaver, a spokeswoman for the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board, which manages the TSP.
TSP enrollees moved $1.8 billion into the G Fund in June, transferring money out of equity funds -- most significantly the S and I funds.
The retirement plan’s lifecycle (L) funds, a mix of TSP’s five basic investment options that grows more conservative as participants near retirement, also all came out ahead for July.
The L Income fund, for people who have already started withdrawing money, grew 1 percent for the month. L 2020 was up 2.01 percent; L 2030, 2.85 percent; L 2040, 3.31 percent; L 2050, 3.74 percent.
TSP’s lifecycle options were also in the black for the year to date, with L income up 2.47 percent; L 2020, 3.67 percent; L 2030, 4.64 percent; L 2040, 5.13 percent; and L 2050, 5.48 percent.