Alight Solutions 401k Index: November 2019 Observations

November was the lightest month of the year for trading among 401(k) investors, according to the Alight Solutions 401(k) Index™. Average net daily trading activity was 0.013% of balances and there were zero days of above-normal¹ activity.

November observations:

On average, 0.013% of 401(k) balances were traded daily
19 of 20 days favored fixed income funds

The Alight Solutions 401(k) Index™ statistics for the month of November 2019:

Index statistics	November	2019 YTD
Total transfers as percentage of starting balance	0.18%	2.16%
# Fixed days	19 (95%)	201 (87%)
# Equity days	1 (5%)	30 (13%)
# Above normal days	0	25

Inflows and outflows during November:

Trading inflows mainly went to bond, stable value and target date² funds
Outflows were primarily from company stock, large U.S. equity and small U.S. equity funds

Asset classes with most trading inflows in November

	Percentage of inflows	Index dollar value ($ mil)
Bond funds	46%	$182
Stable value funds	21%	$81
Target date funds	12%	$47

Asset classes with most trading outflows in November

	Percentage of outflows	Index dollar value ($ mil)
Company stock	52%	$204
Large U.S. equity funds	25%	$100
Small U.S. equity funds	8%	$33

November investment portfolios:

After reflecting market movements and trading activity, average asset allocation in equities increased from 67.3% in October to 67.7% in November
New contributions to equities increased from 67.4% in October to 67.5% in November

Asset classes with largest percentage of total balance at end of November

	Percentage of balance	Index dollar value ($ mil)
Target date funds	29%	$65,171
Large U.S. equity funds	25%	$56,494
Stable value funds	10%	$21,476

Asset classes with most contributions in November

	Percentage of contribution	Index dollar value ($ mil)
Target date funds	49%	$545
Large U.S. equity funds	20%	$217
International equity funds	7%	$77

November market observations:

U.S. equity returns were strong in November with small U.S. equities (represented by the Russell 2000 Index) rising 4.1% and large U.S. equities (represented by the S&P 500 Index) gaining 3.6%. International equites (represented by the MSCI All Country World ex-U.S. Index) increased close to 1%. U.S. bonds (represented by the Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Aggregate Index) fell slightly by 0.1%.

Returns for common indices

	November	2019 YTD
Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Aggregate Index	-0.1%	8.8%
S&P 500 Index	3.6%	27.6%
Russell 2000 Index	4.1%	22.0%
MSCI All Country World ex-U.S. Index (net)	0.9%	16.5%

Members of the media: please contact Landis Cullen 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 is when the net daily movement exceeds two times the average daily net activity. A “moderate” relative transfer activity 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. The amount in the target risk funds is less than 10% of the total.