Morningstar reported that American Funds has launched nine target-date funds. It shouldn't be a surprise since almost every major fund family has launched similar offerings.

American Funds has joined the target-date retirement fund party. This month the fund family's advisor, Capital Research and Management, filed with the SEC to add nine new target-date retirement funds to its lineup. The new funds are Capital Research's first entries in a growing segment of the mutual fund industry.

The earliest targeted retirement date for these new funds is 2010, with the other eight funds' target dates hitting at five-year increments after that through 2050. Capital Research's filings didn't include other information, such as how each offering will allocate assets among sibling funds (including how assets will be split between stocks, bonds, cash, and other investments), who will manage each one, or how much each fund costs.

The introduction of these new funds precedes the Pension Reform Act, scheduled to take effect Feb. 1, 2007, that reduces employers' legal liabilities if they offer certain types of funds in their respective 401(k) plans: target-date funds, balanced funds, and managed accounts. By offering these new funds, Capital Research safeguards its presence--for both its individual funds and its role as some employers' fund family of choice--in 401(k) plans across the nation. However, Capital Research won't offer retail shares of the funds.