eMoney Market Index Historical Data Update

The 12/31/2016 Market Index Data is now available in your eMoney application. As a new part of this update, the eMoney Planning Team has made additional changes to some of our Market Index Historical Data. 

These changes do not apply if your home office provides us with your own custom data or has previously defined a different historical data span.

What is Changing?

Most notably, we’ve changed the “CPI” index has been changed to use 30 years of data instead of 77. See below for more on how this will impact your financial plans.

We’ve also:

• Adjusted the “Ibbotson 30-day US Treasury Bill” index to use 15 years of data instead of 77.  This will reduce the default rate of return for cash assets.
• Changed “Dow Jones World Emerging Index” to “BNYM EMERGINGMARKETS INDEX”.
• Changed “PHLX Gold Silver Index” to “NYSE ARCA GOLD MINERS INDEX”.

How Will the CPI Index Update Affect My Financial Plans?

Updating your indices will cause a meaningful change to this rate which in turn will create changes to your cash flow and Monte Carlo results.  You should review previously built cases before presenting to clients to see if you are comfortable with the new results.  You can accept these updates and then change the inflation rate back to its prior rate for clients where you deem appropriate.

Expect to see a reduction in the baseline CPI rate from 3.76% to 2.65% and a reduction in the Ibbotson 30-day US Treasury Bill of 3.74% to 1.25%.

Am I Required to Use the New CPI Index Data?

No – as always, you manually initiate the update to index data. Also, all indices can be changed back manually if you wish to continue to using the former growth characteristics.

To revert back, after updating, simply navigate to your Investment Assumptions and select Model Portfolios then Market Indices.  From here you can click on the Consumer Price Index and manually update the Rate of Return, Mean Rate, and Standard Deviation to the previous percentages.

Why Was This Change Made?

The updates to historical data were largely driven by feedback from advisors like you. Additionally, the updated indices are better aligned with current market conditions and projected future growth.

How Can I Update My Indices?

Click here for a breakdown of how to update your market indices on a global level or for a single client.