Managing a 401(k) Fund

Richard S. Ruback; Kathleen  Luchs

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Case | HBS Case Collection | October 2003 (Revised December 2003)

Managing a 401(k) Fund

by Richard S. Ruback and Kathleen Luchs

Abstract

Focuses on an individual's decision to participate in his firm's 401(k) plan and how to invest his contributions. Plan participants have a choice of 10 mutual funds with different investment strategies. Includes data from Morningstar on the composition and performance of the different funds and information on different asset allocation strategies provided by the fund administrator, T. Rowe Price.

Keywords: Investment Funds; Investment; Saving; Asset Management; Financial Management; Decision Making; Personal Finance; Financial Services Industry;

Format: Print

10 pages

Educators Purchase

Citation:

Ruback, Richard S., and Kathleen Luchs. "Managing a 401(k) Fund." Harvard Business School Case 204-077, October 2003. (Revised December 2003.)

About the Author

Richard S. Ruback

Willard Prescott Smith Professor of Corporate Finance

Finance

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Supplement | HBS Case Collection | March 2019

Baskits

Richard S. Ruback and Royce Yudkoff

Citation:
Ruback, Richard S., and Royce Yudkoff. "Baskits." Harvard Business School Multimedia/Video Supplement 219-709, March 2019. View Details

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Casebook | 2019

Private Equity: A Casebook

Paul A. Gompers, Victoria Ivashina and Richard S. Ruback

This book is a collection of cases and notes that have been used in Private Equity Finance, an advanced corporate finance course offered in the second year of the Harvard Business School’s MBA curriculum, over several years. Our goal is to provide detailed insight into the sources of value creation as well as outline the process of deal making in the private equity industry.

Keywords: Private Equity; Value Creation; Cases;

Citation:
Gompers, Paul A., Victoria Ivashina, and Richard S. Ruback. Private Equity: A Casebook. London: Anthem Press, 2019. View Details

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Teaching Note | HBS Case Collection | May 2018 (Revised February 2019)

Greg Mazur and the Purchase of Great Eastern Premium Pet Foods

Richard S. Ruback, Royce Yudkoff and Ahron Rosenfeld

Teaching Note for HBS No. 211-085. Greg Mazur (HBS 1997) identified a small firm, Great Eastern Premium Pet Food, in December of 1998 that fit his search criteria and decided to offer the seller a cash price of $1.2 million plus an earn-out equal to 1% of revenue over the next five years. He planned to invest $500,000 of his own money in the acquisition and finance the remainder with a senior loan in a formal letter of intent.
Great Eastern Premium Pet Food was a regional distributer of pet food products that operated in a highly competitive environment, with low profit margins, and no exclusive products. Great Eastern was barely profitable in 1997 and had profits of about $140,000 in 1998. Mazur evaluated the acquisition using a financial model that assumed a sales growth rate of 12.5% per year, and a gradual improvement in profit margin from 2% to 7.5% over five years. He identified ways to grow sales through changes in the composition and structure of the sales force and to improve margins through managing costs. The case explores the rationale for the acquisition and its evaluation, including the reasonableness of the financial model and its sensitivity to alternative assumptions.

Keywords: Acquisition; Entrepreneurship; Financing and Loans; Negotiation Deal; Strategic Planning; Valuation; Analysis;

Citation:
Ruback, Richard S., Royce Yudkoff, and Ahron Rosenfeld. "Greg Mazur and the Purchase of Great Eastern Premium Pet Foods." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 218-122, May 2018. (Revised February 2019.) View Details

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Managing a 401(k) Fund

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