Fidelity Investments Canada Ltd. announced today that Fidelity ClearPath Retirement Portfolios will be available for purchase beginning November 3.

With the introduction, Fidelity is bringing its expertise with lifecycle funds to Canadian retail investors and advisors.

In lifecycle funds, the asset mix of equity, fixed income and money market mutual funds is automatically adjusted on a continuous basis to become more conservative over time as the investor and the portfolio grow nearer retirement and thereafter.

Fidelity pioneered lifecycle funds, or target date funds, and introduced them in 1996 for investors in the United States. Called Fidelity Freedom Funds in that market, they are available to both retail investors and pension plan members, attracting more than US$37 billion U.S. in assets to date.

In October 2004, Fidelity Canada launched Fidelity ClearPath group segregated funds for retirement planning for defined contribution plans administered by Fidelity.

The new Fidelity ClearPath Retirement Portfolios for Canadian retail investors are a suite of nine target retirement date portfolios plus a retirement income portfolio. Each portfolio comprises multiple underlying Fidelity funds to provide diversification over all asset classes and exposure to global investment opportunities.

“Saving for retirement doesn’t get much easier than this,” said Wilfred Vos, vp, business development, in a release. “All investors need to do is choose an estimated retirement date and then, with their advisor, select the corresponding portfolio.”

“The low minimum investment of $500 makes what is a very sophisticated investing choice accessible to all investors,” he added.

Fidelity ClearPath Retirement Portfolios include: ClearPath 2005 Portfolio; ClearPath 2010 Portfolio; ClearPath 2015 Portfolio; ClearPath 2020 Portfolio; ClearPath 2025 Portfolio; ClearPath 2030 Portfolio; ClearPath 2035 Portfolio; ClearPath 2040 Portfolio; ClearPath 2045 Portfolio; and ClearPath Income Portfolio.

After the investor’s target retirement date, the target date portfolio continues to become more conservative until it is eventually merged with the ClearPath Income Portfolio (about 10 years after the target date of each portfolio). The ClearPath Income Portfolio uses an optimized asset allocation strategy for investors already in retirement.