Alight Solutions 401k Index: February 2019 Observations

February was a slow trading month for 401(k) investors, according to the Alight Solutions 401(k) Index. There were three trading days of above-normal¹ trading activity. When participants made trades, they overwhelmingly favored fixed income funds over equities.

February observations:

17 of 19 days favored fixed income funds
On average, 0.016% of 401(k) balances were traded daily

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

Index statistics

	February	2019 YTD
Total transfers as percentage of starting balance	0.19%	0.34%
# Fixed days	17 (89%)	34 (85%)
# Equity days	2 (11%)	6 (15%)
# Above normal days	3	6

Inflows and outflows during the month:

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

Asset classes with most trading inflows in February

	Percentage of inflows	Index dollar value ($ mil)
Bond funds	45%	$168
Stable value funds	30%	$112
Money market funds	7%	$26

Asset classes with most trading outflows in February

	Percentage of outflows	Index dollar value ($ mil)
Large U.S. equity funds	58%	$217
Company stock	36%	$112
International funds	7%	$26

February investment portfolios:

After reflecting market movements and trading activity, average asset allocation in equities increased to 67.9% at the end of February from 67.6% at the end of January
New contributions in equities remained unchanged at 67.7% in February

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

	Percentage of balance	Index dollar value ($ mil)
Target date² funds	28%	$57,954
Large U.S. equity funds	25%	$50,673
Stable value funds	10%	$21,144

Asset classes with most contributions in February

	Percentage of contribution	Index dollar value ($ mil)
Target date funds	44%	$737
Large U.S. equity funds	19%	$314
Stable value funds	7%	$116

February market observations:

For most investors, February continued the positive performance experienced in January of this year. Large U.S. equities (represented by S&P 500 Index) gained 3.2% and small U.S. equities (represented by the Russell 2000 Index) increased 5.2%. International equities (represented by the MSCI ACWI ex-US Index) rose 2.0%. The U.S. bond market (represented by the Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Aggregate Index) lost -0.1%.

Returns for common indices

	February	2019 YTD
Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Aggregate Index	-0.1%	1.0%
S&P 500 Index	3.2%	11.5%
Russell 2000 Index	5.2%	17.0%
MSCI All Country World ex-U.S. Index (net)	2.0%	9.7%

Members of the media: please contact Dominic Belmonte 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. The amount in the target risk funds is less than 10% of the total.