April was the lightest trading month for 401(k) investors in the more than 25-year history of the Alight Solutions 401(k) IndexTM. On average, 0.008% of balances were traded daily, down from 0.010% in March. There were no above-normal1 days in April. New contributions to equities remained unchanged at 68.4%.
April observations:
- On average, 0.008% of 401(k) balances were traded daily.
- 15 of 19 days favored fixed income funds.
The Alight Solutions 401(k) IndexTM statistics for the month of April: | ||
Index statistics | April | 2023 YTD |
Total transfers as percentage of starting balance | 0.07% | 0.27% |
# Fixed days | 15 (79%) | 56 (69%) |
# Equity days | 4 (21%) | 25 (31%) |
# Above-normal1 days | 0 | 2 |
Inflows and outflows during the month of April:
- Trading inflows mainly went to bond, money market and international equity funds.
- Outflows were primarily from large U.S. equity, target date2 and company stock funds.
Asset classes with most trading inflows in April | Percentage of inflows | Index dollar value ($mil) |
Bond funds | 65% | $96 |
Money market funds | 14% | $20 |
| International equity funds | 12% | $18 |
Asset classes with most trading outflows in April | Percentage of outflows | Index dollar value ($mil) |
Large U.S. equity funds | 34% | $49 |
| Target date funds2 | 25% | $36 |
| Company stock | 18% | $26 |
April investment portfolios:
- After reflecting market movements and trading activity, average asset allocation in equities remained 68.8% from March to April.
- New contributions to equities remained at 68.4% from March through April.
Asset classes with largest percentage of total balance at the end of April | Percentage of balance | Index dollar value ($mil) |
Target date funds2 | 31% | $70,061 |
Large U.S. equity funds | 26% | $59,785 |
Stable value funds | 9% | $19,862 |
Asset classes with most contributions in April | Percentage of contributions | Index dollar value($mil) |
Target date funds2 | 49% | $588 |
Large U.S. equity funds | 21% | $245 |
International equity funds | 7% | $84 |
April market observations:
Returns for common indices | April | 2023 YTD |
Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Aggregate Index | 0.61% | 3.59% |
S&P 500 Index | 1.56% | 9.17% |
Russell 2000 Index | -1.80% | 0.89% |
MSCI All Country World ex-U.S. Index (net) | 1.74% | 8.72% |
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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