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Alight Solutions 401(k) Index™: April 2024 Observations

Alight Solutions 401(k) Index™: April 2024 Observations

Trading activity rose slightly in April with four above-normal1 days compared to just two in March, according to the Alight Solutions 401(k) IndexTM. Investors favored fixed income funds on 13 of 22 days. Bond funds (52%) saw the most inflows, while target date funds2 (58%) experienced the most outflows. New contributions to equities increased slightly to 69.8% in April, while average asset allocation in equities dropped from 71.7% in March to 71.3% in April.

April observations:

  • On average, 0.009% of 401(k) balances were traded daily.
  • 13 of 22 days favored fixed income funds.

The Alight Solutions 401(k) IndexTM statistics for the month of April:

Index statistics

April

2024 YTD

Total transfers as percentage of starting balance

0.09%

0.55%

# Fixed days

13 (59%)

46 (55%)

# Equity days

9 (41%)

37 (45%)

# Above-normal1 days

4

18


Inflows and outflows during the month of April:

  • Trading inflows mainly went to bond, money market and large U.S. equity funds.
  • Outflows were primarily from target date2, mid U.S. equity and small U.S. equity funds.

Asset classes with most trading 

inflows in April

Percentage of inflows

Index dollar value ($mil)

Bond funds

52%

$125

Money market funds

18%

$44

Large U.S. equity funds

18%

$43

Asset classes with most trading 

outflows in April

Percentage of outflows

Index dollar value ($mil)

Target date funds2 

58%

$142

Mid U.S. equity funds

19%

$46

Small U.S. equity funds

11%

$28


April investment portfolios:

  • After reflecting market movements and trading activity, average asset allocation in equities decreased from 71.7% in March to 71.3% in April.
  • New contributions to equities increased from 69.7% in March to 69.8% in April.

Asset classes with largest percentage

of total balance at the end of April

  Percentage of balance

  Index dollar value ($mil)  

Target date funds2

32%

$83,004

Large U.S. equity funds

28%

$72,944

International equity funds

7%

$17,384

Asset classes with most 

contributions in April

Percentage of contributions

Index dollar value($mil)

Target date funds2

50%

$705

Large U.S. equity funds

22%

$515

International equity funds

7%

$98


Returns for common indices

March

2024 YTD

Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Aggregate Bond Index

-2.53%

-3.28%

S&P 500 Index

-4.08%

6.04%

Russell 2000 Index

-7.04

-2.22%

MSCI All Country World ex-U.S. Index (net)

-1.80%

2.81%

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.

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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