Alight Solutions 401(k) Index™: April 2020 observations

After a turbulent first quarter, 401(k) investors had a slower trading month in April, according to the Alight Solutions 401(k) Index™. There were three days of above-normal¹ trading activity, all within the first week of the month.

April observations:

• On average, 0.023% of 401(k) balances were traded daily
• 12 of 21 days favored equity funds

Alight Solutions 401(k) Index statistics for April 2020:

Inflows and outflows during April:

• Trading inflows mainly went to bond funds, self-directed brokerage windows and money market funds
• Outflows were primarily from target date², company stock and large U.S. equity funds

Asset classes with most trading inflows in April

Asset classes with most trading outflows in April

April investment portfolios:

• Reflecting market movements and trading activity, average asset allocation in equities increased from 63.1% in March to 64.7% in April
• New contributions to equities decreased slightly from 67.3% in March to 67.2% in April

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

Asset classes with most contributions in April

April market observations:

All indices delivered positive returns, following the first quarter’s decline. Small U.S. equities (represented by the Russell 2000 Index) rose 13.7%, large U.S. equities (represented by the S&P 500 Index) were up 12.8% and international equities (represented by the MSCI All Country World ex-U.S. Index) gained 7.6%. U.S. bonds (represented by the Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Aggregate Index) were also up by 1.8%.

Returns for common indices

Members of the media: please contact Landis Cullen for questions about the Alight Solutions 401(k) Index™.  Learn more about the Alight Solutions 401(k) Index™ here.