October was a slow trading month for retirement investors, according to the Alight Solutions 401(k) IndexTM. On average, daily net transfers were 0.008% of balances. When participants made trades, they overwhelmingly favored fixed income over equities with 18 of the 23 days showing net transfers favoring stable value, money market and bond funds. |
October observations:
• On average, 0.008% of 401(k) balances were traded daily.
• 18 of 23 days favored fixed income funds.
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Inflows and outflows during the month of October:
• Trading inflows mainly went to bond, money market and stable value funds. • Outflows were primarily from target date2, large U.S. equity and company stock funds. |
Asset classes with most trading inflows in October | Percentage of inflows | Index dollar value ($mil) | |
| Bond funds | 62% | $164 | |
| 27% | $72 | |
| Stable value funds | 9% | $25 |
Asset classes with most trading outflows in October | Percentage of outflows | Index dollar value ($mil) |
Target date funds2 | 36% | $95 |
Large U.S. equity funds | 17% | $46 |
| Company stock | 15% | $39 |
October investment portfolios:
• After reflecting market movements and trading activity, average asset allocation in equities decreased from 72.2% in September to 72.1% in October.
• New contributions to equities decreased from 69.5% in September to 69.3% in October.
Asset classes with largest percentage of total balance at the end of October | Percentage of balance | Index dollar value ($mil) |
Target date funds2 | 31% | $81,940 |
Large U.S. equity funds | 29% | $76,680 |
Company stock funds | 7% | $19,027 |
Asset classes with most contributions in October | Percentage of contributions | Index dollar value($mil) |
Target date funds2 | 53% | $571 |
Large U.S. equity funds | 21% | $223 |
International equity funds | 6% | $71 |
Returns for common indices | October | 2024 YTD |
Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Aggregate Bond Index | -2.48% | 1.86% |
S&P 500 Index | -0.91% | 20.97% |
Russell 2000 Index | -1.44% | 9.56% |
MSCI All Country World ex-U.S. Index (net) | -4.91% | 8.61% |
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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