Alight Solutions 401k Index: September 2019 Observations

September was a slow month for 401(k) trading with only one above-normal¹ activity, according to Alight Solutions 401(k) Index™. When investors made trades, they favored fixed income funds with over 90% of net trading dollars moving from equities into fixed income.

September observations:

On average, 0.016% 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 September 2019:

Index statistics	September	2019 YTD
Total transfers as percentage of starting balance	0.23%	1.77%
# Fixed days	19 (95%)	161 (86%)
# Equity days	1 (5%)	27 (14%)
# Above normal days	1	24

Inflows and outflows during the month:

Trading inflows mainly went to stable value, bond and money market funds
Outflows were primarily from large U.S. equity, company stock and mid U.S. equity funds

Asset classes with most trading inflows in September

	Percentage of inflows	Index dollar value ($ mil)
Stable value funds	44%	$206
Bond funds	33%	$154
Money market funds	15%	$69

Asset classes with most trading outflows in September

	Percentage of outflows	Index dollar value ($ mil)
Large U.S. equity funds	44%	$208
Company stock	36%	$168
Mid U.S. equity funds	7%	$35

September investment portfolios:

After reflecting market movements and trading activity, average asset allocation in equities
decreased from 67.5% in August to 67.1% in September
New contributions to equities decreased from 67.6% in August to 67.5% in September

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

	Percentage of balance	Index dollar value ($ mil)
Target date² funds	29%	$62,587
Large U.S. equity funds	25%	$53,398
Stable value funds	10%	$21,400

Asset classes with most contributions in September

	Percentage of contributions	Index dollar value ($ mil)
Target date funds	48%	$484
Large U.S. equity funds	20%	$203
International funds	7%	$75

September market observations:

Equity markets were broadly positive in September with international equities (represented by the MSCI All Country World ex-U.S. Index) up 2.6%, large U.S. equities (represented by the S&P 500 Index) gaining 1.9% and small U.S. equities (represented by the Russell 2000 Index) rising 2.1%. However, U.S. bonds (represented by the Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Aggregate Index) fell 0.5%.