What are Dell Technologies employee’s retirement investments?
Dell offers a 401(k) retirement savings plan for its ~63,000 participants. Employees can choose to contribute a portion of their income to the plan.
But which investments do Dell employees pick as retirement investments?
What is a 401(k) Retirement Savings Plan
A 401(k) plan is a retirement savings plan offered by employers in the United States. It allows employees to save a portion of their salary before taxes are applied, meaning they pay less in taxes upfront.
The money is then invested in various options within the plan, such as mutual funds. Employers may also contribute to the employee’s 401(k) account, usually by matching a percentage of the employee’s contributions.
The funds in a 401(k) grow on a tax-deferred basis until they are withdrawn during retirement, at which point they are subject to regular income tax.
Some plans also offer a Roth 401(k) options where contributions are made “after-tax”, and withdrawals are tax-free in retirement.
A 401(k) retirement savings plan is a type of defined contribution plan.
Dell Technologies’ 401(k) Plan
The Dell plan allows for matching contributions. Dell makes matching contributions in an amount equal to 100% of the first 6% of compensation deferred by participants.
Form 5500 lists the investments Dell 401(k) plan participants selected for their retirement funds. Providing us insight into how Dell employees choose to invest for retirement.
401(k) plan sponsors are required to file Form 5500 with the Department of Labor each year.
So, what are Dell employee’s retirement investments?
The Dell 401(k) plan offers Pre-Mixed Portfolios (PMPs). These portfolios are designed to shift their holdings as the target retirement year approaches. They gradually shift to more bonds and fewer equities. In other words, they become more conservative as time passes.
The Dell plan is different than most other 401(k) plans with regard these “target date funds” or PMPs. Most other plans offer target date retirement funds as a mutual funds (or collective trusts). Meaning each participant invested in a target date fund would see a single holding in their 401(k) account.
Dell’s Pre-Mixed Portfolios are largely a mixture of the funds from the plan’s Core Investment Options (Passive and Actively Managed funds). Meaning each participant’s account holds a number of individual funds that together make up the specific target date fund’s desired asset allocation.
Dell Employees Retirement Investments
The largest single holding across Dell employee’s retirement accounts is the SSGA S&P 500 fund. It represents an astounding 25% of total plan assets at over $3.5 billion in assets. This is one of the designated passively managed funds available as a Core Investment Option that is also a component part of the PMPs.
The next largest holding—at 8% of plan assets—is the SSGA Russell Small/Mid Cap Fund. This fund tracks the total return of an index of mid to small capitalization exchange traded U.S. equity securities.
Plan assets as of 12/31/2021
(from Dell’s 2022 filing of Form 5500)
| Top 10 Investments | % |
| SSGA S&P 500 NL SER A (CMM3) | 25% |
| SSGA RUSSELL SM/MD CAP (R) FD | 8% |
| SSGA GLOBAL ALL CAP EQUITY EX US | 5% |
| J. HANCOCK CORE PLUS FIXED INC | 5% |
| PRUDENTIAL CORE PLUS BOND CLASS 5 | 5% |
| BLACKROCK SHORT TERM INV FUND W | 4% |
| SSGA US BOND INDX NL SF CLA FD | 4% |
| ARROWSTR INTL EQ EAFE CIT CL M | 3% |
| GW&K SMALL/MID CAP CORE | 2% |
| COLLECTIVE LSV INTL FND TIER 7 | 2% |
See the Dell 401(k) page for additional plan details and value of holdings.
Source: 2021 Form 5500 for Dell’s 401k plan
