Retirement plan investors were brisk traders in February, according to the Alight Solutions 401(k) IndexTM. Trading activity was above-normal1 on nearly half of the days, with money almost exclusively moving from equity funds to fixed income instruments.
February observations: |
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Inflows and outflows during the month of February:
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Asset classes with most trading inflows in February | Percentage of inflows | Index dollar value ($mil) | |
| 38% | $279 | |
| Stable value | 21% | $154 | |
| Money market funds | 20% | $145 |
Asset classes with most trading outflows in February | Percentage of outflows | Index dollar value ($mil) | |
| 67% | $497 | |
| Company stock | 23% | $169 | |
| Small U.S. equity funds | 4% | $31 |
February investment portfolios: |
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Asset classes with largest percentage of total balance at the end of February | Percentage of balance | Index dollar value ($mil) |
Target date funds2 | 31% | $84,730 |
Large U.S. equity funds | 30% | $80,691 |
Company stock | 7% | $19,017 |
Asset classes with most contributions in February | Percentage of contributions | Index dollar value($mil) |
Target date funds2 | 45% | $825 |
Large U.S. equity funds | 25% | $456 |
International equity funds | 6% | $108 |
Returns for common indices | February | 2025 YTD |
Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Aggregate Bond Index | 2.20% | 2.74% |
S&P 500 Index | -1.30% | 1.44% |
Russell 2000 Index | -5.35% | -2.87% |
MSCI All Country World ex-U.S. Index (net) | 1.39% | 5.47% |
1 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 2 times the average daily net activity of the preceding 12 months.
2 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.
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