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BUSINESS FIRST | columbusbusinessfirst.com
THRIFT SAVINGS PLAN
Financial institutions are included in the lists based on rates reported to Business First each week.
| AUTO |
| PERSONAL |
New car, fixed-rate, 48-month
Home equity loan, up to $20,000, fixed rate
Education First Credit Union Delaware County Bank Bremen Banking Center Arlington Bank First Bexley Bank
3.64 4.40 4.49 6.75 6.99
Delaware County Bank Arlington Bank First Bexley Bank
5.75 6.25 7.99
| CD | Six months
One year
First Bexley Bank Columbus First Bank Bremen Banking Center Education First Credit Union Arlington Bank Delaware County Bank
1.00 0.90 0.75 0.55 0.50 0.25
Columbus First Bank Bremen Banking Center First Bexley Bank Arlington Bank Education First Credit Union Delaware County Bank
1.15 1.10 1.00 0.75 0.70 0.40
| MORTGAGE | $200,000, 10% down, no points 30-year fixed
15-year fixed
Arlington Bank First Bexley Bank Third Federal Bremen Banking Center Education First Credit Union
4.875 4.875 4.950˚ 5.000 5.250
Five-year ARM
Arlington Bank Bremen Banking Center First Bexley Bank Third Federal Education First Credit Union
4.250 4.250 4.250 4.250˚ 4.500
30-year jumbo (over $417,000)
Third Federal First Bexley Bank Arlington Bank
3.600˚ 3.625 3.750
First Bexley Bank
FEBRUARY 25, 2011
5.375
Notes: § Special/promotional rates; ≠ Annual percentage yields; ¶ Variable; ˚ Required amounts or terms vary
Public retirement fund has been shielded from political tampering Dear Mr. Berko: I will soon have a civil service job. I don’t understand the Thrift Savings Plan, which is like a 401(k). I understand the matching contributions, etc., but I do not understand the investments. I can’t even tell how the funds performed in the past, who does the investing, and I can’t even find the fund’s symbols. Is this a good plan compared with other mutual funds? – R.E., Cincinnati Dear R.E.: The six individual Thrift Savings plans are coordinated by 80 honest employees of the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board. And four of the six funds within your plan are managed by BlackRock Institutional Trust, a highly regarded manager based in Wilmington, Del. Suffice it to say, your plan is one of the few government agencies whose success should be vigorously applauded. Chairman Andrew Saul, who makes certain this $220 billion plan with 3.8 million participants runs smoothly, has remained aloof to congressional influence and tampering. As a result, Congress hasn’t been able to pimp these funds (as it does with Social Security) to support its cash-short projects. Over the years, some politicians have lusted for those untouched billions, but Saul and his predecessors have remained steadfastly impervious to the entreaties of some of the powerful members of Congress. Meanwhile, BlackRock Institutional Trust has done yeoman’s work managing this money, doing a tad better over the one-, three-, five- and 10-year benchmarks used by Wall Street as a standard of performance. Though BlackRock runs the portfolios of F, C, S and I funds, those securities are held in a trust (unlike the Social Security Trust) and can’t be used by BlackRock to meet any of its obligations. The F Fund owns government, corporate and mortgage-backed bonds, and its performance is a few basis points better than the Barclays Capital U.S. Aggregate Bond Index. It has very low to moderate risk and a 10-year average annual return of 6.39 percent. The C Fund has moderate risks and
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on stocks MALCOLM BERKO
holds stocks of large and midsize U.S. companies. Its performance tends to match the Standard & Poor’s 500 averages. Its 10-year average annual return of minus-0.94 percent is a better return than 93 percent of all U.S. equity mutual funds. The S Fund has a portfolio of small and midsize U.S. companies, and its performance is just two basis points under the performance of the Dow U.S. TSM Index, which includes almost every U.S. stock except those of the S&P 500. It has high to moderate risks. Finally, the I Fund owns foreign securities from 21 developed nations. Its performance is a smidgen better than the Morgan Stanley EAFE Index and carries moderate to high risks. The G fund is managed by the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board and is comprised of non-marketable U.S. Treasury securities with short- to mediumlength maturities. It is guaranteed by the government and cannot lose money. The L Fund portfolio owns the G, F, C, S and I funds. The five portfolios in this fund provide market diversification, and the allocations tend to reduce risks. Now, the reason you cannot find these funds is that they are not available to the public. They are regulated by the Comptroller of the Currency, not the Securities and Exchange Commission (thank goodness) and don’t bear ticker symbols. If you participate in the plan, however, you will be given an ID number with which you can access fund performance and current values. It’s too bad that state, municipal and corporate plans are not run with the same care and diligence.
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MALCOLM BERKO is an investment specialist. Address questions to him at P.O. Box 8303, Largo, Fla. 33775. mjberko@yahoo.com
| INSIDER TRADING | A record of stock trades by insiders at corporations based in Central Ohio or companies that have significant operations in the region.
columbusbusinessfirst.com Submit bank rates | columbusbusinessfirst/datacenter/bank-rates.html
NAME ACTION TITLE, COMPANY Robert Schottenstein Sold Chairman & CEO, M/I Homes Inc. Hagedorn Partnerships LP Sold Major shareholder, Scotts Miracle-Gro Co. Courtney Haning Sold Director, Rocky Brands Inc.
SHARES
PRICE
DATE
HOLDS
154,118
Feb. 11-17
3,290
85,729
$13.35 to $14.34 $52.18
9,000
$13.93
Feb. 17
Feb. 14 19,656,965
Source: Vickers Stock Research
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