Alight Solutions 401k Index: October 2017 Observations

Trading among defined contribution plan investors was moderate in October, according to the Alight Solutions 401(k) Index^TM, with three days of above normal¹ trading activity.

October observations:

On average, 0.014% of balances traded each day
There was a 50/50 split of trading days favoring equities or fixed income

The Alight Solutions 401(k) Index™ statistics for the month of October:

Index statistics	October	2017 YTD
Total transfers as percentage of starting balance	0.21%	1.17%
# Fixed days	11(50%)	113(54%)
# Equity days	11(50%)	97(46%)
# Above normal days	3	10

Inflows and outflows during the month:

Trading inflows went to international, bond, and large U.S. equity funds
Outflows were primarily from company stock, premixed and stable value funds

Asset classes with most trading inflows in October:

	Percentage of inflows	Index dollar value ($ mil)
International funds	45%	$174
Bond funds	22%	$81
Large U.S. equity funds	14%	$52

Asset classes with most trading outflows in October:

	Percentage of outflows	Index dollar value($ mil)
Company stock funds	40%	$153
Target date² funds	34%	$129
Stable value funds	20%	$77

October investment portfolios:

At the end of October, 67.9% of balances were invested in equities, up from 67.6% at the end of September
67.2% of new contributions were invested in equities, up slightly from 67.0% in September

Asset classes with largest percentage of total balance at end of October:

	Percentage of balance	Index dollar value ($ mil)
Target date funds	27%	$53,536
Large U.S. equity funds	23%	$46,676
Stable value funds	11%	$20,950

Asset classes with most contributions in October:

	Percentage of contributions	Index dollar value ($ mil)
Target date funds	46%	$416
Large U.S. equity funds	19%	$175
International funds	8%	$74

October market observations

Capital markets saw positive gains for large U.S. equity funds (represented by the S&P 500 Index), international equities (represented by the MSCI All Country World ex-U.S. Index), small U.S. equity funds (represented by the Russell 2000 Index), and U.S. bonds (represented by the Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Aggregate Index) in October.

Returns for common indices

	October	2017 YTD
Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Aggregate Index	0.1%	3.2%
S&P 500 Index	2.3%	16.9%
Russell 2000 Index	0.9%	11.9%
MSCI All Country World ex-U.S. Index (net)	1.9%	23.4%

Members of the media: please contact MacKenzie Lucas for questions about the Alight Solutions 401(k) Index™.

Learn more about the Alight Solutions 401(k) Index here.

A “normal” level of relative transfer activity is when the net daily movement of participants’ balances as a percent of total 401(k) balances within the Alight Solutions 401(k) Index™ equals between 0.3 times and 1.5 times the average daily net activity of the preceding 12 months. A “high” relative transfer activity day is when the net daily movement exceeds two times the average daily net activity. A “moderate” relative transfer activity day is when the net daily movement is between 1.5 and two times the average daily net activity of the preceding 12 months.
Target date funds also include the amounts in target risk funds for companies who do not have target date funds. The amount in the target risk funds is less than 10% of the total.