sneaky Prudential

i think Prudential's Stable Value Fund must be facing tough times.

i got a letter in the mail from them today saying that they were no longer going to use the Lord Abbot Limited Duration US Gov't Securities Fund A because it "has not met the performance standards" set by my company's account manager. because of this, any money in this fund will be transfered to Prudential's own Stable Value Fund.

so far, this fund has lived up to it's name. but, considering that it is composed mostly of mortgage backed securities and corporate securities from companies heavily dependent on the mortgage market, it seems that trouble is inevitable. pushing customer's retirement money into it is a nice quiet way to shore up the balance sheets and push off liquidity issues a bit further. maybe help the bigger customers get out, so only the uninformed small-time investors get hurt.

anyway, i don't know anything about the situation (it seems few people are willing to commit to answers on mortgage-related debt values right now), so i moved my money to the one FDIC insured option available in my account. that seems to be the safest option i have available right now.

point being, Prudential appears to be acting in their own best interest instead of mine and that is shameful.

now would be a good time to read the fine print on any investments you have, if you haven't done so already. any fund that is related to mortgages, commercial loans, or corporate debt is quite likely not worth having money in right now. in the best of time they pay only .5%-1.0% more than an FDIC insured alternative, but carry real risk. if you want risk, you can find funds that will probably give real returns. i see no reason to hold "stable value" anything right now.