Investment options

Investing is about putting your money to work so it grows over time and helps you meet your future needs. With MERIT, you have access to a range of investment options, allowing you to invest your contributions based on your retirement goals. Like most retirement programs, MERIT offers a variety of investment options, ranging from conservative to aggressive. How you choose to invest will depend on your risk tolerance. The descriptions below can also give you a sense of what each investment option can offer. Before making any investment decisions, seek competent financial advice.

Your default investment option

If you choose to do nothing upon your enrollment in the program, contributions made during the first 30 days will be invested temporarily in the Capital Preservation Option. After 30 days, your funds will be exchanged automatically to a default Target Retirement Date Option based on your birth year and expected retirement year.

Review your investment options

Capital Preservation Option

This option is intended to be a cash-like fund that seeks to help investors preserve the value of their savings by investing in money market securities. The Capital Preservation Option is 100% invested in the State Street Institutional U.S. Government Money Market Fund (Ticker: GVMXX). All participants in MERIT will be enrolled automatically in the Capital Preservation Option for 30 days, unless they have chosen otherwise.

Target Retirement Date Option

Each Target Retirement Date Option has a specific “target date” (e.g., 2035, 2045, 2055) and invests in a mix of stocks and bond funds based on how far away it is from its target date. Certain funds have been created to drive growth for younger investors who can take more risk and become more conservative over time to help investors preserve savings as the funds near their target dates. Target Retirement Date Options are available for savers of all ages and are usually selected by picking the fund that is closest to the year you expect to retire.

The Target Retirement Date Options are 100% invested in State Street Retirement Funds. These funds invest in an assortment of stock and bond funds managed by State Street. The Target Retirement Date Options available include:

Bond Index Option

The Bond Index Option is intended to be a more conservative option that seeks to help investors preserve the value of their savings, while still earning income by investing in bonds. The Bond Index Option is 100% invested in the State Street Aggregate Bond Index Fund (SSFEX).

International Equity Option

The International Equity Option invests in a portfolio of assets whose performance seeks to match the performance of the MSCI All Country World ex-U.S. Index. This option is designed for investors with a longer time horizon (10 years or more) and will provide the highest level of risk and the potential for higher return out of the investment options. This option is 100% invested in the BlackRock iShares MSCI Total International Index Fund (Ticker: BDOKX)