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PIMCO RealPath Blend

Active where it matters.
Passive where it saves.

Glide Path

Seeking to Provide a Smoother Ride to Retirement

RealPath Blend glide path's asset class allocations aim to generate strong returns and income, while seeking to reduce volatility through meaningful diversification and help retain participant confidence to stay invested throughout the glidepaths time-horizon.

We allocate roughly 95% of the portfolio to equities for the furthest dated vintages, designed for the youngest participants, in an effort to maximize balances early in their career.

We aim for our equity allocations to be well diversified, which means they have less U.S. home market bias and greater exposure to non-U.S. and emerging markets.

RealPath Blend seeks to preserve retirement wealth as a participant progresses to mid-career. During this period, PIMCO’s glide path employs robust diversification across equities, fixed income and inflation-hedging assets in an effort to balance growth with preservation of balances.

For participants approaching and entering retirement, this diversified approach tilts more toward capital preservation relative to return-generation while focusing explicitly on generating consistent real income for retirees. This results in meaningful exposures to real assets and diversified fixed income exposures tapping into the full global opportunity set.

Venn Diagram

The three key benefits of PIMCO’s RealPath Blend target date funds are that the funds are: cost conscious, benefit from PIMCO’s expertise in active management and provide an optimized glide path that is focused on individual outcomes and emphasizes income and diversification.

Realpath Blend

Blending the Best of Both Worlds

Most defined contribution (DC) plan core line-ups include both active and passive equity and fixed income options—why should Target Date Funds be any different? PIMCO RealPath Blend is a powerful combination of PIMCO’s active fixed income and Vanguard’s passive equity funds.

  1. Active where it matters, passive where it saves – Powered by PIMCO and Vanguard*
  2. Delivering value for 50+ years with PIMCO’s fixed income resources, and explicit downside risk management
  3. Individual outcome focused emphasizing income and diversification, with a disciplined annual review
*PIMCO and Vanguard are not affilated

PIMCO RealPath Blend

Select the target date that is closest to the year of your retirement, for more information:

Glide Path Leadership

Optimized by Team of PIMCO Experts

PIMCO's glide path leadership team is comprised of industry-leading economists, investment managers and experts in retirement, research and analytics. They employ our vast global resources and a unique, in-depth review process to optimize the glide path for every PIMCO RealPath Blend target date fund annually.

Glide Path Team Chair

Featured Expert

Erin Browne 

Portfolio Manager, Asset Allocation

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Co-Portfolio Managers

Featured Expert

Brendon Shvetz 

Portfolio Manager, Rates and Foreign Exchange

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Featured Expert

Graham A. Rennison 

Quantitative Portfolio Manager

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Modeling & Analytics

Featured Expert

Sean Klein 

Head of Client Business Strategy – Client Solutions and Analytics

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Featured Expert

Niels K. Pedersen 

Quantitative Research Analyst, Asset Allocation Research

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Research & Validation

Featured Expert

Helen Guo 

Co-Head of Client Solutions and Analytics, Americas and Asia-Pacific

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Featured Expert

Mukundan Devarajan 

Quantitative Research Analyst

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Featured Expert

Jamil Baz 

Head of Client Solutions and Analytics

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Featured Expert

Rene Martel 

Head of Retirement

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Macro & Risk Management

Featured Expert

Richard Clarida 

Global Economic Advisor

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Featured Expert

Tiffany Wilding 

Economist

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Featured Expert

Josh Davis 

Global Head of Risk Management

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Final Review & Approval

Featured Expert

PIMCO's Investment Committee 

Chaired by Dan Ivascyn, MD, Group CIO

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PIMCO's Investment Resources

RealPath Blend benefits from the depth and breadth of PIMCO's global resources – working to help your plan participants achieve their retirement goals.

285+

Portfolio managers with an average of 17 years of experience2

80+

Analysts on our industry-leading credit research team2

4

Winners of Morningstar Fixed-Income Manager of the Year1

PIMCO – a trusted partner for DC Sponsors

$106.1.bn

in DC AUM2

~71,000

DC plans include a PIMCO Strategy3

#1

Funds held by DC plans by category4

Realpath Blend Insights

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myTDF - How the 5 factors affect asset allocation
Understanding Investing

Meet myTDF - How the 5 Factors Affect Asset Allocation(video)

Meet myTDF - How the 5 Factors Affect Asset Allocation

By going beyond age and considering five demographic factors, myTDF aims to deliver a personalized default solution that’s as easy to use as traditional target date funds. Our latest video takes a closer look at the five factors myTDF uses and how they impact participant allocations.

Meet myTDF: A More Precise Path To and Through Retirement
Coming Next to DC Plans: Personalized Target Date Funds

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Disclosures

1 The following individuals received the US Morningstar Fixed-Income Fund Manager of the Year award: Jerome Schneider (2015); Dan Ivascyn and Alfred Murata (2013); Mark Kiesel (2012); The Morningstar Fixed Income Fund Manager of the Year award (US) is based on the strength of the manager, performance, strategy, and firm's stewardship, 2 PIMCO, 30 September 2023; 3 Brightscope, 30 September 2023; 4 Based on study of PIMCO DC AUM and data from P&I article dated June 2022. On this date Vanguard Total Bond Mkt. Index-Inst. had $26b while PIMCO Total Return had $28b.

Investors should consider the investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses of the funds carefully before investing. This and other information are contained in the fund’s prospectus and summary prospectus, if available, which may be obtained by contacting your investment professional or PIMCO representative. Click here for a complete list of the PIMCO Funds prospectuses and summary prospectuses. Please read them carefully before you invest or send money.

A word about risk: The fund invests in other funds and performance is subject to underlying investment weightings which will vary. Investing in the bond market is subject to risks, including market, interest rate, issuer, credit, inflation risk, and liquidity risk. The value of most bonds and bond strategies are impacted by changes in interest rates. Bonds and bond strategies with longer durations tend to be more sensitive and volatile than those with shorter durations; bond prices generally fall as interest rates rise, and low interest rate environments increase this risk. Reductions in bond counterparty capacity may contribute to decreased market liquidity and increased price volatility. Bond investments may be worth more or less than the original cost when redeemed. Mortgage and asset-backed securities may be sensitive to changes in interest rates, subject to early repayment risk, and their value may fluctuate in response to the market’s perception of issuer creditworthiness; while generally supported by some form of government or private guarantee there is no assurance that private guarantors will meet their obligations. Investing in foreign denominated and/or domiciled securities may involve heightened risk due to currency fluctuations, and economic and political risks, which may be enhanced in emerging markets. Sovereign securities are generally backed by the issuing government, obligations of U.S. Government agencies and authorities are supported by varying degrees but are generally not backed by the full faith of the U.S. Government; portfolios that invest in such securities are not guaranteed and will fluctuate in value. Inflation-linked bonds (ILBs) issued by a government are fixed-income securities whose principal value is periodically adjusted according to the rate of inflation; ILBs decline in value when real interest rates rise. Commodities contain heightened risk including market, political, regulatory, and natural conditions, and may not be suitable for all investors. High-yield, lower-rated, securities involve greater risk than higher-rated securities; portfolios that invest in them may be subject to greater levels of credit and liquidity risk than portfolios that do not. Investing in securities of smaller companies tends to be more volatile and less liquid than securities of larger companies. Equities may decline in value due to both real and perceived general market, economic, and industry conditions. Derivatives and commodity-linked derivatives may involve certain costs and risks such as liquidity, interest rate, market, credit, management and the risk that a position could not be closed when most advantageous. Commodity-linked derivative instruments may involve additional costs and risks such as changes in commodity index volatility or factors affecting a particular industry or commodity, such as drought, floods, weather, livestock disease, embargoes, tariffs and international economic, political and regulatory developments. Investing in derivatives could lose more than the amount invested. The cost of investing in the Fund will generally be higher than the cost of investing in a fund that invests directly in individual stocks and bonds. Diversification does not ensure against loss.

Glide path is the asset allocation within a target-date strategy (also known as a lifecycle or target maturity strategy) that adjusts over time as the participant’s age increases and their time horizon to retirement shortens. The basis of the glide path is to reduce the portfolio risk as the participant’s time horizon decreases. Typically, younger participants with a longer time horizon to retirement have sufficient time to recover from market losses, their investment risk level is higher, and they are able to make larger contributions (depending on various factors such as salary, savings, account balance, etc.). Generally, older participants and eligible retirees have a shorter time horizon to retirement, and their investment risk level declines as preserving income wealth becomes more important.

Target Date Funds are designed to provide investors with a retirement solution tailored to the time when they expect to retire or plan to start withdrawing money (the "target date"). Target Date Funds will gradually shift their emphasis from more aggressive investments to more conservative ones based on their target dates. Target Date Funds invest in other funds and instruments based on a long-term asset allocation glide path developed by PIMCO, and performance is subject to underlying investment weightings, which will change over time. An investment in a Target Date Fund does not eliminate the need for an investor to determine whether a Fund is appropriate for his or her financial situation. An investment in a Fund is not guaranteed.  Investors may experience losses, including losses near, at, or after the target date, and there is no guarantee that a Fund will provide adequate income at and through retirement.

There is no guarantee that these investment strategies will work under all market conditions or are appropriate for all investors and each investor should evaluate their ability to invest long-term, especially during periods of downturn in the market.

PIMCO as a general matter provides services to qualified institutions, financial intermediaries and institutional investors. Individual investors should contact their own financial professional to determine the most appropriate investment options for their financial situation. This material contains the current opinions of the manager and such opinions are subject to change without notice. This material has been distributed for informational purposes only. Information contained herein has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but not guaranteed. No part of this material may be reproduced in any form, or referred to in any other publication, without express written permission. PIMCO is a trademark of Allianz Asset Management of America LLC in the United States and throughout the world. ©2023, PIMCO

PIMCO Investments LLC, distributor, 1633 Broadway, New York, NY, 10019 is a company of PIMCO.

CMR2023-0309-2783894