Attorney Docket No 18092-014WO1

Index and Fund Based on Investment Time Horizon

TECHNICAL FIELD This invention relates to financial instruments, and more particularly to determining membership of financial instruments in an index

BACKGROUND

As used herein, the term "financial instruments" includes securities, commodities and any other financial instruments created, developed or otherwise derived from an index , including without limitation, exchange traded funds, options (including, but not limited to, options on any index), futures, and swaps

When planning for retirement or savings, many people choose to invest their money Generally, the goal is to have the worth of the investment increase over time To accomplish this goal, many people use retirement investment vehicles such as 401(k) plans, mutual funds, tax-free investments, or the like Often, the person planning for retirement or savings chooses a mutual fund in which to invest, or after completing a survey, chooses vaπous mutual funds based on πsk allocation For example, a person wishing to retire in 50 years may decide to invest in a mutual fund comprising mostly equity, while a person wishing to retire in 5 years may decide to invest in a mutual fund composing mostly treasury bills or bonds In either scenaπo, the mutual funds have a general amount of nsk associated with them during the life of the funds

Generally, the nsk associated with an investment generally remains substantially the same during the life of the investment This is true whether a person invests in a high πsk, or "aggressive," investment or a low πsk, or "conservative," investment This means that if a person decides to invest money in a conservative investment for 25 years, they may not obtain the same increase in their investment had he or she invested m an aggressive fund Further, if the person decided to invest m an aggressive investment for 25 years, the person generally has a higher πsk of the principal decreasing by the end of the 25 years as compared to a conservative investment

Attorney Docket No 18092-014WO1

SUMMARY

According to an embodiment of the invention, a method of determining membership in an index based on an investment time horizon compπses determining an asset allocation commensurate with the investment time horizon and constituting the index based on the asset allocation determination

According to another embodiment, a method of determining membership in an index based on an investment time hoπzon compπses determining an asset allocation commensurate with the investment time horizon, constituting the index based on the asset allocation determination, and rebalancing the asset allocation of the index In this embodiment, the investment time hoπzon is factored into the rebalancing

According to yet another embodiment, a financial instruments marketplace compπses at least one index, or options on the index, the index compπsmg a plurality of financial instruments, wherein the plurality of financial instruments are selected by determining an asset allocation commensurate with an investment time hoπzon, and constituting the index based on the asset allocation determination

The details of one or more embodiments of the invention are set forth m the accompanying drawings and the description below Other features, objects, and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the descπption and drawings, and from the claims

DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG 1 shows a graphical representation of the time-based allocation set forth in Table 3

FIG 2 is a schematic diagram of a computer system

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

As used herein, the terms "select" and "determine" include selecting, electing, choosing, determining, establishing, calculating, picking, obtaining, or any other similar action The term "create" is used for purposes of convenience, not limitation, and includes forming, devising, developing, making, producing or any other similar action The term "index" also is used for purposes of convenience, not limitation, and includes an index, a fund, and the like

Attorney Docket No 18092-014WO1

An index enables an investor to maintain an investment for a predetermined investment time horizon The "investment time horizon" is the penod of time from the date of investing in the index to the mvestor's actual, planned, intended, or anticipated date of withdrawing the money from the index The time period may be a number of years, months, days, or other increment of time

The index may be comprised of financial instruments, including, but not limited to, equities, bonds, exchange traded funds ("ETFs"), exchange traded notes ("ETNs"), fixed income pioducts, commodities, real estate, and currencies Pn some embodiments, the index is comprised of at least one of financial instruments, equities, bonds, ETFs, ETNs, fixed income products, commodities, real estate, and currencies

The asset classes for the index may be broad market asset classes that provide investors with diversification In some embodiments, the index invests in an asset class by (a) investing directly in product(s) that track an mdex(es) that serve(s) as a proxy(ies) for the asset class(es), (b) investing in ETF(s) and/or ETN(s) that serve(s) as a proxy(ies) for the asset class(es), (c) investing in individual securities, commodities, currencies and other financial instruments that compπse the asset class(es), or (d) a combination of (a)-(c) Asset classes are known to those skilled in the art A non-hmitmg example of asset classes is found in Figure 1

Table 1

hi some embodiments, the index provides investors a diversified portfolio of investments The asset allocation for the index is commensurate with an investor's investment time horizon In some embodiments, when a longer investment time hoπzon is used, the index comprises "aggressive investments" during a portion of the investment time

Attorney Docket No 18092-014WO1 horizon "Aggressive investments" are understood to be those investments that are likely to be volatile or highly volatile, i e , investments likely to have a rapid gam or loss associated therewith In other embodiments, when a shorter investment time horizon is used, the index compπses "conservative investments " "Conservative investments" are understood to be those investments that are less likely to expeπence a rapid gam or loss A conservative investment generally is a less risky investment than an aggressive investment because it is generally less likely to result in a decrease in principal

In some embodiments, during the initial, or early, years of the investment, the πsk allocated to the fund or index is relatively higher compared to the πsk allocated to the fund or index during the later years, ; e , the years closer to the end of the investment time horizon As a non-hmitmg example, if the investment time hoπzon is thirty years, then the πsk allocated to the fund or index is relatively higher during the first year and relatively lower duimg the last year

In some embodiments, the index is rebalanced on a peπodic basis, including, but not limited to, yearly, quarterly, monthly, weekly, daily, biannually, or semiannually

"Rebalancing" means to add or delete financial instruments from the index or to increase the amounts of such financial instruments relative to the amount of other financial instruments within the index based on predetermined criteπa Rebalancing may take place automatically In some embodiments, the rebalancing may be based on a predetermined rebalancing allocation schedule In some embodiments, the investment time hoπzon is factored into the rebalancing As a nσn-limiting example, if, based on the investment time honzon, the index initially compπses aggressive investments, by the completion of the investment time hoπzon, the index compπses conservative investments

A rebalancing mechanism is used when rebalancing the index In some embodiments, the rebalancing mechanism follows straight-line appreciation and depreciation that converges to a predetermined asset allocation at investment time hoπzon 0

Appreciation (Depreciation) = (Allocation _{t n} - Allocation^ / n where Allocation is the percentage of assets allocated to a particular asset class t is a point along the investment time honzon n is an amount of time along the investment time hoπzon less than or equal to t

Using this formula, if the rebalancing is to occur annually, then

Attorney Docket No 18092-014WO1

Annual Appreciation (Depreciation) = (Allocation _n - Allocation _t ) / n where Allocation is the percentage of assets allocated to a particular asset class t is a point along the investment time horizon n is a number of years along the investment time horizon less than or equal to t

As a non-hmitmg example, the allocation to an asset class may be 20% for an index with an investment time horizon of 30 years At year 0, the targeted allocation for this asset class may be 10% In order to go from 20% to 10% evenly over the 30-year investment time horizon, the allocation to this asset class decreases 0 3333% per year for the 30-year peπod In some embodiments, if the investor decides to continue the investment in the index after the investment time horizon is reached, the allocation would rebalance in accordance with the year 0 allocation(s) each time the index is subsequently rebalanced hi other embodiments, after the investment time horizon is reached, an investment advisor specifies a new investment time horizon if any investment is to remain in the index and this new investment time hoπzon is taken into account during subsequent rebalancing In still yet other embodiments, the investor discontinues the investment in the index after the investment time hoπzon is reached and purchases a new investment that corresponds to a new investment time hoπzon

Alternatively, instead of using straight-line appreciation and depreciation to rebalance the index, other rebalancing mechanisms may be used As non-limitmg examples, rebalancing mechamsms based on mathematical formulas, equations, functions, etc may also be applied In other instances, rebalancing mechanisms based on a professional assessment which takes into account the return of the investment to date and the desired return of the investment over the investment time hoπzon may also be applied The index described herein may be classified based on investment time hoπzons As a non-limiting example, an index with an investment time hoπzon of 30 years, which is rebalanced annually, may tend to hold asset classes that possess higher levels of volatility than a fund with an investment time hoπzon of 5 years This is shown in Table 2 If the straight-line rule based rebalancing mechanism set forth above is used for this example, annual adjustments foi each lespective asset class allocation based on asset allocations at investment time horizon year 30 and year 0 are shown in Table 3 Figure 1 shows a graphical representation of the time-based allocation set forth in Table 3

Attorney Docket No 18092-014WO1

In some embodiments, the index guarantees an interest rate The guaranteed interest rate may be equal to the rate of increase or decrease of the various financial instruments which compose the index In other embodiments, the guaranteed interest rate may be a rate determined by a party overseeing the index The interest rate may be guaranteed by constantly trading financial instruments in an attempt to maintain or substantially maintain the interest rate

In some embodiments, one or more funds, indices, securities, futures or other financial instruments based on investment time horizon may be traded on a marketplace for such financial instruments It is understood that the term "marketplace" is construed broadly heiein, to include (i) all U S and foreign exchanges, including without limitation, all organizations, associations or groups of persons, whether incorporated or unincorporated, that constitute, maintain or provide a marketplace or facilities for bringing together buyers and sellers of securities, futures and/or other financial instruments, for bπngmg together oiders for secuπties, futures and/or other financial instruments of multiple buyers and sellers, or for otherwise performing with respect to secuπties, futures and/or other financial mstiuments the functions commonly performed by a stock exchange, commodity exchange, tiadmg center, alternative trading system, trade reporting system, alternative display facility, automated trading center, electronic communications network or other similar facility as those terms are respectively generally understood, (u) all U S and foreign quotation and tiade reporting systems or any other similar facilities or market centers where orders to buy and sell secuπties, futures, and/or other financial instruments interact with each other, (in) all, and all market facilities maintained by any such, exchanges, quotation systems, trading centers, alternative trading systems, alternative display facilities, automated trading centers, electronic communications networks or other facilities, and (iv) all U S and foreign over-the- counter markets, including, without limitation, all m-person, telephone, computer or other electronic networks that connect buyers and sellers of secuπties, futures and/or other financial instruments A marketplace may constitute an exchange, quotation system, trading center, automatic trading system, electronic communications network or other marketplace on which one or more funds, indices, secunties, futures or other financial instruments according to the invention are traded

Figure 2 illustrates an exemplary system, such as a computer system, on which the methodology descπbed herein can be utilized One suitable computer system upon which the

Attorney Docket No 18092-014WO1 method may be implemented is shown at 200 Computer system 200 includes a bus 202 or other communication mechanism for communicating information, and a processor 204 coupled with bus 202 for processing information Computer system 200 also includes a main memory 206, such as a random access memory (RAM) or other dynamic storage device, coupled to bus 202 for stonng information and instructions to be executed by processor 204 Mam memory 206 also may be used for storing temporary vaπable or other intermediate information during execution of instructions to be executed by processor 204 Computer system 200 further includes a read only memory (ROM) 208 or other static storage device coupled to bus 202 for stonng static information and instructions for processor 204 A storage device 210, such as a magnetic disk or optical disk, is provided and coupled to bus 202 for stonng information and instructions

Computer system 200 may be coupled via bus 202 to a display 212, such as a cathode ray tube (CRT), for displaying information to a computer user An input device 214, which may include alphanumenc and other keys, is coupled to bus 202 for communicating information and command selections to processor 204 Another type of user input device is cursor control 216, such as a mouse, a trackball, or cursoi direction keys for communicating direction information and command selections to processor 204 and for controlling cursor movement on display 212 This input device typically has two degrees of freedom in two axes, a first axis (e g , x) and a second axis (e g , y), that allows the device to specify positions in a plane

According to one embodiment, computer system 200 operates m response to processor 204 executing one or more sequences of one or more instructions contained m mam memory 206 Such instructions may be read into main memory 206 from another computei readable medium, such as storage device 210 Execution of the sequences of instructions contained m mam memory 206 causes processor 204 to perform the process steps descnbed herein One or more processors in a multi-processing arrangement may also be employed to execute the sequences of instructions contained in main memory 206 In alternative embodiments, hard- wired circuitry may be used in place of or in combination with software instructions to implement the methodology Thus, practicing the methodology are not limited to any specific combination of hardware circuitry and software, and the description here and below is understood to be an exemplary embodiment of a system of the invention

Attorney Docket No 18092-014WO1

A software application containing coding for implementing the process described herein can be stored or reside in any suitable computer-readable medium The term "computei -readable medium" as used herein refers to any medium that participates in providing instructions to processor 204 for execution Such a medium may take many forms, including, but not limited to, non-volatile media, volatile media, and transmission media Non volatile media include, for example, optical or magnetic disks, such as storage device 210 Volatile media include dynamic memory, such as mam memory 206 Transmission media include coaxial cables, copper wire, and fiber optics, including the wires that compose bus 202 Transmission media can also take the form of acoustic or light waves, such as those generated during radio frequency (RF) and infrared (IR) data communications Common forms of computer-ieadable media include, foi example, floppy disk, a flexible disk, hard disk, magnetic tape, and other magnetic medium, a CD-ROM, DVD, any other optical medium, punch cards, paper tape, any other physical medium with patterns of holes, a RAM, a PROM, an EPROM, a FLASHEPROM, any other memory chip or cartπdge, a earner wave as descπbed hereinafter, or any other medium from which a computer can read

Various forms of computer-readable media may be mvolved in carrying one or more sequences of one or more instructions to processor 204 for execution For example, the instructions may initially be borne on a magnetic disk of a remote computer The remote computer can load the instructions into its dynamic memory and send the instructions over a telephone line using a modem A modem local to computer system 200 can receive the data on the telephone lme and use an infrared transmitter to convert the data to an infrared signal An infrared detector coupled to bus 202 can receive the data earned in the infrared signal and place the data on bus 202 Bus 202 carries the data to mam memory 206, from which processor 204 retrieves and executes the instructions The instructions received by mam memory 206 may optionally be stored on storage device 210 either before or aftei execution by processor 204

Computer system 200 also includes a communication interface 218 coupled to bus 202 Communication interface 218 provides a two-way data communication coupling to a netwoik link 220 that is connected to a local network 222 For example, communication interface 218 may be an integrated services digital network (ISDN) card or a modem to provide a data communication connection to a corresponding type of telephone line As another example, communication interface 218 may be a local area network (LAN) card to

Attorney Docket No 18092-014WO1 provide a data communication connection to a compatible LAN Wireless links may also be implemented In any such implementation, communication interface 218 sends and receives electrical, electromagnetic, or optical signals that carry digital data streams representing various type of information Network link 220 typically provides data communication through one or more netwoiks to other data devices For example, network link 220 may provide a connection through local network 222 to a host computer 224 or to data equipment operated by an Internet Service Piovider (ISP) 226 ISP 226 in turn provides data communication services through the worldwide packet data communication network, now commonly referred to as the "Internet" 228 Local network 222 and Internet 228 both use electrical, electromagnetic, or optical signals that carry digital data streams The signals through the vaπous networks and the signals on network line 220 and through communication interface 218, which carry the digital data to and fiom computer system 200, are exemplary forms of carrier waves transporting the information Computei system 200 can send messages and receive data, including program codes, through the network(s), network line 220, and communication interface 218 In the Internet example, a server 230 might transmit a requested code for an application program through Internet 228, ISP 226, local network 222, and communication interface 218

The received code may be executed by processor 304 as it is received, and/or stored in storage device 310, or other non volatile storage for later execution In this manner, computer system 300 may obtain an application code in the form of a earner wave

A number of embodiments of the invention have been described Nevertheless, it will be understood that various modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention For example, although an example refers to stocks and companies, the methods described herein can be used for any type of financial instrument Accordingly, other embodiments are withm the scope of the following claims

Attorney Docket No 18092-014WO1

TABLE 2: Annual Asset Allocation Distribution

Attorney Docket No . 18092-014WO 1

US Real Currencies and Futures TOTAL