How TSP Advisory Operates

Daily valuation began 16 June 2003.  For TSP Advisory subscribers, the key issue is that interfund transfers are processed daily. Thus, there is no longer a mid-month deadline for submitting interfund transfer requests.  You can read more about how the new interfund transfer system works on the Thrift Savings Plan web site (Plan News). 

Here is how TSP Advisory operates under daily valuation:

• TSP Advisory updates its proprietary models on a weekly basis:  The recommended allocations are always based on data as of market close on the previous Friday. Thus, the recommendations are associated with the date of the previous Friday.  Two other dates appear:  (1) The date of posting (when we actually posted the recommendations on the web site,  generally no later than Monday, 6:00 PM, Eastern time) appears in the marquee and in TSP Advisory Alert e-mail (see below); and (2) the date of the Monday following the Friday close will appear on the cover page of our recommendations.  For example, the posting date (say, 21 Mar 2004) reflects when the information was actually posted to the web site.  The recommended allocations are for the week beginning Monday, 22 Mar, and reflect data through Friday, 19 Mar.

• If no change:  If there is no change, the web site will continue to state that the last recommended re-allocation remains in effect.  Since TSP Advisory's models use both weekly and daily data, updating more frequently would not be productive. 

• How do I find out if the recommended allocations have changed?

• There are two ways to find out if TSP Advisory recommended allocations among the TSP funds has changed:  We will notify subscribers (1) by e-mail (IF you have signed up for TSP Advisory Alert -- sign up here) and (2) in the first line on the marquee bulletin board on the home page ("NEW recommended reallocations posted on (date)!".

• If no change is recommended:  There will be no e-mail alert, and the first line on the marquee bulletin board on the home page will say that "The (date) recommended allocations remain in effect."

• If reallocations have changed:  Go to the Subscriber portion of the web site, as you ordinarily would.

• Not all changes predicted by the TSP Advisory models will result in recommended reallocations:  Our "rule-of-thumb" is that we will revise the recommended reallocations once the total shift among TSP funds reaches 20% or greater, for any of our portfolios (DAA portfolio, and the four TAA portfolios).   Thus, if the only changes recommended by the models were that the I-Fund should go from 35% to 30% and the S-Fund from 25% to 30%, that total change of 10% would not result in a recommended interfund transfer.  But if at the same time, the C-Fund went from 25% to 20% and the F-Fund from 15% to 20%, the total change would equal 20% and that would call for reallocation. And the total is cumulative:  if in the first week, the S-Fund/I-Fund shift took place, and the C-Fund/F-Fund shift took place in the second week, the recommended shift would occur in the second week.

• TSP Advisory Portfolio Update and TSP Fund Summary will continue to be updated on a monthly basis.