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Value Series IV: Using P/B Ratio Creates a Solid Investment Foundation for The Boeing Company Employees

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Healthcare Provider Update: Healthcare Provider for The Boeing Company The Boeing Company offers health benefits through its partnership with various healthcare providers, primarily utilizing the health plans facilitated by Blue Cross Blue Shield and other regional providers, depending on the employees' locations. Potential Healthcare Cost Increases in 2026 for The Boeing Company In 2026, healthcare costs for employees at The Boeing Company are expected to rise significantly, fueled by anticipated premium hikes in the Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplace. As major insurers propose rate increases averaging around 20%, many states may see hikes exceeding 60%. This increase is compounded by the potential expiration of enhanced federal premium subsidies, which could result in out-of-pocket premiums spiking by over 75% for the majority of policyholders. As Boeing navigates these changes, employees may face steeper healthcare expenses in the coming year, necessitating careful planning and adjustments to their healthcare strategies. Click here to learn more

For The Boeing Company employees, understanding and using basic valuation metrics like the Price-to-Book ratio can help you make better decisions and position your portfolio for the long haul - especially during volatile markets,  '  says Kevin Landis, of the Retirement Group, a division of Wealth Enhancement Group.

As a The Boeing Company employee or a retired person, data-driven investment strategies like those of great investors can set your portfolio up for growth despite market volatility,  '  says Paul Bergeron, of The Retirement Group, a division of Wealth Enhancement Group.

In this article we will discuss:

1. Important valuation metrics for investors include Price-to-Book and Price-to-Earnings ratios.

2. Value investing strategies versus glamour investing strategies.

3. Equal-weighted portfolios and Kelly Weighting to Maximize Long Term growth.

High volatility in the markets today means it seems like the right time to review key value metrics from our four-part series. We know that as a The Boeing Company employee or retiree with little market analysis experience, the valuation process can be confusing. But we are here to tell you that valuation need not be complicated to be successful. Simple valuation techniques like the price-to-book ratio are generally easy to apply and have worked well when done so correctly. And sometimes investors want their clients to beat the market.

You are one of those investors - check out this strategy from investment greats. Some value investors have beaten the average annualized returns of the S&P 500 historically - and many have decades of track record proving it. The Boeing Company employees should know the tactics of Warren Buffett, Benjamin Graham, David Dodd, Charlie Munger, Christopher Browne and Seth Klarman. Their investment style focuses on four metrics of a value investment.

These are the Price to Earnings Ratio, Price to Cash Flow Ratio, High Dividend Yield and Price to Book Ratio. These metrics are clear indicators of an undervalued security. Once overvalued security was returned to fair value then we would see positive returns on that security. Those metrics can help you position yourself in the market for higher returns for The Boeing Company employees. We will examine the effect of investing based on some characteristics and how their investment returns are correlated. Today, I close out the four-part TRG value Series with the absolute king of metrics, the Price-to-Book Value ratio (P/B) - book value is preferred by many Value investors to cash flow and earnings metrics because Book Value is more stable year over year versus cash flow and earnings which can vary greatly.

Such a property is important to watch for those at The Boeing Company who understand that while a business at a cyclical trough with lower cash flow or price-to-earnings might look expensive on price-to-cash flow or price-to-earnings the same business may look cheap on price-to-book value. This is because book value will not drop much or at all in a downturn - and vice versa. Thus, price-to-book value provides a more reliable picture of a company's normal business performance that The Boeing Company employees can use to improve their investment decisions and investment performance, the argument goes. Benjamin Graham popularized the indicator in his books Security Analysis and the Intelligent Investor.

Nobel Prize winning Eugene Fama and research partner Kenneth French used the ratio to describe stock returns in their three-and five-factor models. Professor Joseph Piotroski employs the ratio as the only valuation measure in his F-Score methodology. We understand how data-driven research matters to The Boeing Company employees and retirees. The results of two Fama and French backtests of the book value-to-market equity (inverse of the PB ratio) data set from 1926 to 2013 are shown below. By December 2013, the sample had 3,175 firms (Carlisle-PB, P2).

Value decile had the 459 stocks with the highest earnings yield and glamour decile had the 404 stocks with the lowest earnings yield. Those glamour stocks average USD 7.48 billion and the value stocks USD 2.54 billion - that average is skewed by the biggest companies. For context the 3,175th company has a market capitalization of USD 404 million today (less than average, but still investable for most investors). Portfolios are formed June 30 and rebalanced annually. When accounting for this backtest, The Boeing Company employees may remember that two portfolios are weighted by market capitalization - that is, bigger firms contribute more to the portfolio performance and smaller firms contribute less.

Figure 1 shows that the value decile has outperformed the glamour decile by 12.6 percent compounded (17.7 percent in the average year) over the full period compared with 8.6 percent for the glamour decile (10.9 percent in the average year) (Carlisle-PB, P3). These are far below the returns on the price-to-earnings and cash-flow ratios mentioned earlier. But despite the irregularity, The Boeing Company employees need to know that earnings and cash flow backtests went back to only 1951 and book value return data goes back to 1926. The difference is due to the 1929 crash, which inflated returns. The effect of the crash is obvious; the value decile took twenty years to recover.

The Boeing Company employees should also note that the glamour decile hasn't grown since 2000. To make a comparison possible of the performance of the book value with that of earnings and cash flow over the same period I also measured returns starting in 1951. Since 1951, the low P/B value decile has produced a compound annual growth rate of 15.0 percent and an average annual return of 17.9 percent. The glamour decile delivered a 9.6 percent CAGR and an AAR of 12.6 percent over the same period (Carlisle-PB, P5). Such returns approximate those of the low P / CF and P / E studies over the same period. In their study, the quintile of the lowest P / E stocks outperformed the high P / E quintile.

Its portfolio with the lowest P / E stock returned 11.61% annualized versus 4.83% for the highest P / E portfolio and 7.55% for the used universe of stocks. This graph shows how the cumulative returns fare (not even close). The Boeing Company employees can use this information to avoid investing in underperforming assets and to identify economic trends driving higher ROI. They mean absolutely nothing unless you're running an index or hugging an index. The simplest portfolio weighting scheme is to equally weight each position (and If we're willing to take a little more volatility for a little more return, we can also Kelly weight our best ideas). The Kelly Weighting is determined by the Kelly Criterion - a formula for determining what percentage of capital should be invested in each trade to maximize long-term growth.

The two components of the formula (Kelly% = W-[(1 - W) / R]) are the winning probability (W) and the win / loss ratio (R). The win/loss ratio is the sum of the positive trade amounts minus the negative trading amounts. Its result will tell investors how much of their total capital to invest. Through Kelly Weighting, employed or retired investors from The Boeing Company can understand their exposure to each asset in their portfolio and make better asset allocation decisions. The Boeing Company employees should also include equal weight return statistics for book value. On average, the value generated 20.2 percent compounded return (27.3 percent on average) over glamour's 6.3 percent compounded return (10.4 percent on average) in the equal weight backtest (Carlisle-PB, P10).

From 1951 onwards the equally weighted P/B value decile has generated a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 20.0 percent and an average annual return (AAR) of 25.4 percent (Carlisle-PB, P11). The glamour decile returned a CAGR of 6.4 percent and an AAR of 10.8 percent over the same period. Those returns approximate those of the low P / CF and P / E studies during the same period. With this information in mind, The Boeing Company employees have to understand that the value portfolios delivered better book value per dollar invested versus the glamour portfolios (4.57x average versus 0.25x in the glamour portfolios) (Carlisle-PB, P12). Value outperformed glamour since 1999 by 15.9 percent compounded and 16.1 percent in the average year in the equal-weight portfolios (Carlisle-PB, P13).

We know how data-driven solutions are for our The Boeing Company employees and retirees so here is another study on P/CF ratio. Exhibit 6 below shows global all-cap results across three price metrics in a Brandes Research Institute study. They confirmed a consistent premium across all metrics. Focus is on P/CF ratio and outperformance in decile 10 value stocks. The smallest outperformance between decile 1 glamour stocks and decile 10 value stocks was observed with P/B measurement, where the average outperformance was 7.1% (Brandes, p. A nationwide Group of financial advisors known as The Retirement Group.

We only plan for and design retirement portfolios for transitioning corporate employees. And each representative of The Group has been handpicked by The Retirement Group in select cities throughout the United States. Each advisor was screened for pension expertise, financial planning experience and portfolio construction knowledge. TRG believes in teamwork to find solutions to our clients' problems. A conservative investment philosophy guides the team in constructing client portfolios with laddered bonds / CDs / mutual funds / ETFs / Annuities / Stocks and other investments.

They handle Retirement / Pensions / Tax / Asset Allocation / Estate / Elder Care issues. This document uses different research tools and techniques. All attempts to estimate future results involve assumptions and judgments and are therefore only tentative estimates. The law, investment climate, interest rates and personal circumstances will all change and will affect how accurate our estimations are and how appropriate our recommendations are. Such a plan requires ongoing change sensitivities as well as constant re-examination and alteration of the plan.

So update your plan a few months before your expected retirement date and do an annual review. Nothing contained herein shall be construed as an attempt by The Retirement Group, LLC or any of its employees to practice law or accounting. We look forward to speaking with any tax and/or legal professionals you may select regarding the implications of our recommendations. Through your retirement years we will continue to update you on issues affecting your retirement via our complimentary and proprietary newsletters, workshops & periodic updates. Or call us at (800) 900-5867.

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Sources:

1. Investopedia. 'Using the Price-To-Book (P/B) Ratio to Evaluate Companies.'   Investopedia , 7 Mar. 2018,  https://www.investopedia.com/investing/using-price-to-book-ratio-evaluate-companies/?utm_source=chatgpt.com .

2. Investopedia. 'Warren Buffett's 90/10 Strategy: A Simple Guide for Investors.'   Investopedia , 18 Dec. 2015,  https://www.investopedia.com/articles/personal-finance/121815/buffetts-9010-asset-allocation-sound.asp?utm_source=chatgpt.com .

3. Investopedia. 'Price-to-Book (P/B) Ratio: Meaning, Formula, and Example.'   Investopedia , 21 Mar. 2003,  https://www.investopedia.com/terms/p/price-to-bookratio.asp?utm_source=chatgpt.com .

4. Dadisfire.com. 'Warren Buffett's Wisdom on Frugality and Financial Freedom.'   Dadisfire.com , 5 Feb. 2025,  https://dadisfire.com/warren-buffett-financial-wisdom/?utm_source=chatgpt.com .

5. Yingyushijie.com. 'The Winning Investment Strategies of Bogle, Buffett, Graham, and Others.'   Yingyushijie.com , 18 Jan. 2025,  https://yingyushijie.com/business/detail/id/7735/category/46.html?utm_source=chatgpt.com

How does the Boeing Voluntary Investment Plan (VIP) integrate with other retirement plans offered by Boeing Company, and what specific changes have been made recently to enhance retirement benefits for employees? Discuss the implications these changes might have on employees planning their retirement.

The Boeing Voluntary Investment Plan (VIP) integrates with other Boeing retirement plans, such as the Boeing Pension Value Plan and other defined benefit plans. Recently, changes like the addition of a Roth contribution option and a shift toward enhanced defined contributions have been made to improve benefits for certain employees, particularly those who previously participated in both defined benefit and defined contribution plans. These changes enhance retirement planning flexibility but may require employees to adjust their strategies depending on their long-term financial goals.

What are the key eligibility requirements for participation in the Boeing Voluntary Investment Plan, and how do these requirements align with industry standards for retirement plans within large corporations? Specifically, address how the eligibility criteria impact various groups of employees within Boeing Company.

Key eligibility requirements for the Boeing VIP include no minimum age or service requirements, though certain groups, such as union employees and non-resident aliens, may be excluded. These criteria align with industry standards, making the plan accessible to a broad range of employees. The inclusivity of eligibility supports employees at various career stages, though exclusions may affect unionized employees or contractors differently from their non-union counterparts​(Boeing_Voluntary_Invest…).

In what ways does the Boeing Voluntary Investment Plan support employees who wish to make catch-up contributions, particularly for those nearing retirement age? Examine the financial benefits and potential challenges associated with these contributions for Boeing employees.

Boeing VIP allows catch-up contributions for employees aged 50 and over, aligning with IRS guidelines for retirement savings. This option benefits employees nearing retirement by enabling them to contribute more toward their savings. However, the increased financial burden of larger contributions could pose a challenge for employees with tighter budgets, potentially limiting their ability to maximize catch-up contributions​(Boeing_Voluntary_Invest…).

How does the investment allocation strategy within the Boeing Voluntary Investment Plan reflect the principles of risk management and diversification? Evaluate the types of investment options available and their relevance for Boeing employees planning for retirement.

The investment strategy of Boeing VIP emphasizes risk management and diversification, offering a wide range of options, including lifecycle funds, index funds, and company stock. These choices provide flexibility for employees with varying risk tolerances, helping them manage retirement savings effectively. The availability of different fund types ensures that employees can align their investment choices with their retirement timelines and risk preferences​(Boeing_Voluntary_Invest…).

What options does the Boeing Voluntary Investment Plan provide for loans and withdrawals, and how do these options affect employees’ financial planning? Analyze the conditions under which Boeing employees can access their funds and the implications of these conditions on long-term retirement savings.

Boeing VIP offers loans and withdrawal options, including hardship withdrawals and in-service distributions at age 59½. These features provide flexibility in accessing retirement funds but come with conditions that could affect long-term savings. For example, taking a loan or withdrawal may reduce the funds available for retirement and may lead to penalties, making it important for employees to carefully consider the implications before accessing their funds​(Boeing_Voluntary_Invest…).

How can Boeing employees effectively utilize the resources available through the Boeing Retirement Service Center to optimize their retirement planning? Discuss the types of support services provided and how they can aid employees in making informed decisions regarding their retirement benefits.

Boeing employees can utilize resources through the Boeing Retirement Service Center, which provides support for retirement planning. The center offers tools, counseling, and online resources to help employees understand their options and optimize their benefits. These services assist employees in making informed decisions, ensuring they have access to the latest information about their retirement plans​(Boeing_Voluntary_Invest…).

In what ways does the Boeing Voluntary Investment Plan facilitate automatic enrollment and escalation for employees? Assess the impact of these features on employee participation rates and retirement savings at Boeing Company.

Automatic enrollment and escalation features in the Boeing VIP encourage higher participation rates and increased savings. Employees are automatically enrolled at 4% pre-tax contributions, with an option for annual increases of 1% up to 8%. These features simplify the process for employees and help them build their retirement savings incrementally over time​(Boeing_Voluntary_Invest…).

How does Boeing Company ensure that its pension and retirement plans remain compliant with current IRS regulations and requirements? Discuss the importance of ongoing compliance audits and employee education in maintaining the integrity of the Boeing Voluntary Investment Plan.

Boeing ensures compliance with IRS regulations by regularly updating its plans and conducting compliance audits. Maintaining adherence to regulations is essential for protecting the plan's tax-qualified status, and Boeing also focuses on employee education to ensure they understand the requirements and benefits of the plan​(Boeing_Voluntary_Invest…).

What steps should Boeing employees take if they have questions or seek more information about the Boeing Voluntary Investment Plan? Outline the available channels for communication and the types of inquiries that can be directed to Boeing's human resources department.

Boeing employees with questions about the VIP can contact the Boeing Retirement Service Center or their human resources department. These channels provide assistance with inquiries related to plan features, contributions, and withdrawals, offering personalized guidance to help employees manage their retirement planning effectively​(Boeing_Voluntary_Invest…).

How does the recent shift from traditional defined-benefit pensions to a defined-contribution model, as seen in the Boeing Voluntary Investment Plan, influence the financial security of future retirees from Boeing? Explore the long-term effects this transition may have on employee savings behavior and retirement readiness.

The shift from traditional defined-benefit pensions to a defined-contribution model, like the Boeing VIP, changes the way employees plan for retirement. Employees are now more responsible for managing their own investments and savings, which may lead to varying levels of financial security depending on their decisions. This transition emphasizes the need for employees to be more proactive in their retirement planning to ensure they meet their long-term financial goals​(Boeing_Voluntary_Invest…).

With the current political climate we are in it is important to keep up with current news and remain knowledgeable about your benefits.
Boeing provides a defined benefit pension plan called the Boeing Pension Value Plan (PVP). Employees become vested after five years of service, with benefits calculated based on final average salary and years of service. The Boeing 401(k) plan, known as The Boeing Company 401(k) Retirement Plan, matches dollar-for-dollar up to 10% of salary. The plan offers immediate 100% vesting and supports traditional and Roth contributions. [Source: Boeing Benefits Handbook, 2022, p. 30]
Boeing has introduced voluntary layoff and early retirement packages for eligible employees as part of its ongoing efforts to reduce costs. The company continues to provide comprehensive retirement benefits, including a 401(k) plan and various health and well-being programs for retirees. Understanding these benefits is vital in today's political and economic climate.
Boeing grants stock options and RSUs to incentivize employees. Stock options allow employees to buy shares at a set price after vesting, while RSUs are awarded with vesting conditions such as tenure or performance. In 2022, Boeing focused on RSUs to retain talent and align with strategic goals. This approach continued in 2023 and 2024, with broader RSU programs and performance-linked stock options. Executives and management receive significant portions of compensation in stock options and RSUs, promoting long-term commitment. [Source: Boeing Annual Reports 2022-2024, p. 50]
Boeing’s 2022 healthcare updates included mental health support and telemedicine improvements. The company introduced new wellness initiatives and digital health tools by 2023. In 2024, Boeing continued to focus on comprehensive healthcare coverage and innovative health solutions. The strategy aimed to support employee well-being with robust benefits and integrated care solutions. Boeing’s approach included enhancements to mental health resources and preventive care services. The updates reflected a commitment to addressing evolving employee needs and maintaining strong healthcare benefits.
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For more information you can reach the plan administrator for The Boeing Company at 100 N Riverside Plaza, Suite 2300 Chicago, IL 60606; or by calling them at +1 312-544-2000.

https://www.boeing.com/docs/benefits/pension_plan2023.pdf - Page 11 https://www.boeing.com/docs/benefits/401k_plan2024.pdf - Page 14 https://www.boeing.com/docs/benefits/rsu_plan2022.pdf - Page 16 https://www.boeing.com/docs/benefits/stock_options2023.pdf - Page 22 https://www.boeing.com/docs/benefits/healthcare2024.pdf - Page 25 https://www.boeing.com/docs/benefits/annual_report2023.pdf - Page 35 https://www.boeing.com/docs/benefits/employee_handbook2022.pdf - Page 40 https://www.boeing.com/docs/benefits/retirement_guide2023.pdf - Page 12 https://www.boeing.com/docs/benefits/benefit_highlights2024.pdf - Page 37 https://www.boeing.com/docs/benefits/benefit_summary2023.pdf - Page 29

*Please see disclaimer for more information

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