Financial Professionals and Plan Sponsors have a fiduciary obligation to recommend appropriate investments for their retirement plan and their retirement plan clients. This duty necessitates a thorough understanding of the underlying constituents of a fund or strategy they recommend, to ensure it’s suitable for plan participants. With the COVID-19 sell-off in the not-so-distant past, and with the subsequent closing(s) of a variety of products that contained esoteric and non-transparent financial instruments, it’s critically important for fiduciaries to understand what they own and the role these portfolio-management tools play.
Important Risks: Investing involves risk, including the possible loss of principal. • Fixed income security risks include credit, liquidity, call, duration, event and interest-rate risk. As interest rates rise, bond prices generally fall. • Derivatives are generally more volatile and sensitive to changes in market or economic conditions than other securities; their risks include currency, leverage, liquidity, index, pricing, regulatory and counterparty risk. • Foreign investments may be more volatile and less liquid than U.S. investments and are subject to the risk of currency fluctuations and adverse political, economic and regulatory developments. • Investments in high-yield (“junk”) bonds involve greater risk of price volatility, illiquidity, and default than higher-rated debt securities. other securities.
This communication is provided solely as general information about our products and services and should be considered general investment education. None of the information provided should be regarded as investment advice or an investment recommendation. Neither Hartford Funds nor its affiliates are undertaking to provide impartial investment advice to any individual investor or retirement plan sponsor. If you are an individual investor or retirement plan sponsor, contact your financial professional or other fiduciary unrelated to Hartford Funds about whether any given investment product or strategy may be appropriate for your circumstances.