November was a busy month for retirement investors, according to the Alight Solutions 401(k) IndexTM. Early in the month, there was a marked increase in trading with all six of the above-normal trading days occurring in the first nine trading days of the month. Prior to the U.S. Presidential Election, investors sought safety and shifted funds from equities to fixed income. However, as stocks soared, transfers saw money moving back into equities. |
November observations:
• On average, 0.013% of 401(k) balances were traded daily.
• Nine of 20 days favored equity funds.
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Inflows and outflows during the month of November:
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Asset classes with most trading inflows in November | Percentage of inflows | Index dollar value ($mil) | |
| Large U.S. equity funds | 50% | $134 | |
| 21% | $57 | |
| Money market funds | 11% | $28 |
Asset classes with most trading outflows in November | Percentage of outflows | Index dollar value ($mil) |
Company stock | 42% | $112 |
Stable value funds | 35% | $93 |
| Target date funds2 | 19% | $51 |
November investment portfolios:
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Asset classes with largest percentage of total balance at the end of November | Percentage of balance | Index dollar value ($mil) |
Target date funds2 | 31% | $84,748 |
Large U.S. equity funds | 30% | $81,103 |
Company stock funds | 7% | $19,730 |
Asset classes with most contributions in November | Percentage of contributions | Index dollar value($mil) |
Target date funds2 | 56% | $673 |
Large U.S. equity funds | 19% | $231 |
International equity funds | 6% | $71 |
Returns for common indices | November | 2024 YTD |
Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Aggregate Bond Index | 1.06% | 2.93% |
S&P 500 Index | 5.87% | 28.07% |
Russell 2000 Index | 10.97% | 21.58% |
MSCI All Country World ex-U.S. Index (net) | -0.91% | 7.62% |
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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