March observations:
- Average net trading activity was 0.015% of 401(k) balances, down from 0.016% in February. This is in sharp contrast to the 0.079% seen last March during the stock selloff at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Four days favored fixed income funds and 19 days favored equity funds.
|
Index statistics |
March |
2021 YTD |
|
Total transfers as percentage of starting balance |
0.22% |
0.46% |
|
# Fixed days |
4 (17%) |
18 (30%) |
|
# Equity days |
19 (83%) |
43 (70%) |
|
# Above-normal days |
0 |
1 |
|
|
|
|
Asset classes with most trading inflows in March |
Percentage of Inflows |
Index dollar value ($mil) |
|
Small U.S. equities |
27% |
$145 |
|
Target date funds |
20% |
$107 |
|
Large U.S. equities |
15% |
$80 |
|
Asset classes with most trading outflows in March |
Percentage of Outflows |
Index dollar value ($mil) |
|
Bond |
52% |
$284 |
|
Stable value |
24% |
$129 |
|
Company stock |
14% |
$75 |
March investment portfolios:
- After reflecting market movements and trading activity, average asset allocation in equities increased from 68.3% in February to 69.0% in March.
- New contributions to equities increased from 68.6% in February to 69.8% in March.
|
Asset classes with largest percentage of total balance at the end of March |
Percentage of Balance |
Index dollar value ($mil) |
|
Target date funds |
30% |
$75,761 |
|
Large U.S. equity funds |
25% |
$64,542 |
|
Stable value funds |
8% | $21,383 |
|
Asset classes with most contributions in March |
Percentage of contributions |
Index dollar value ($mil) |
|
Target date funds |
42% |
$816 |
|
Large U.S. equity funds |
22% |
$427 |
|
International equity funds |
8% |
$157 |
March market returns:
|
Returns for common indices |
March |
2021 YTD |
|
Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Aggregate Index |
-1.25% |
-3.37% |
|
S&P 500 Index |
4.38% |
6.17% |
|
Russell 2000 Index |
1.00% |
12.70% |
|
MSCI All Country World ex-U.S. Index (net) |
1.26% |
3.49% |
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.
Members of the media: please contact Landis Cullen for questions about the Alight Solutions 401(k) Index™.
