Canada (EN)
December was a slow trading month for retirement plan investors, according to the Alight Solutions 401(k) IndexTM. On average, 0.007% of balances were traded daily, the lowest level since September 2023. There were no days of above- normal1 trading activity.
December observations: |
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The Alight Solutions 401(k) Index statistics for the month of December: |
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Inflows and outflows during the month of December:
• Bond funds received more than half of all net trading inflows. • Outflows were primarily from company stock and large U.S. equity funds. |
Asset classes with most trading inflows in December | Percentage of inflows | Index dollar value ($mil) |
| Bond funds | 58% | $149 |
| International equity funds | 15% | $37 |
| Target date funds2 | 13% | $33 |
Asset classes with most trading outflows in December | Percentage of outflows | Index dollar value ($mil) |
| Company stocks | 37% | $96 |
| Large U.S. equity funds | 27% | $71 |
| Money market funds | 16% | $42 |
December investment portfolios: |
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Asset classes with largest percentage of total balance at the end of December | Percentage of balance | Index dollar value ($mil) |
Target date funds2 | 31% | $92,794 |
Large U.S. equity funds | 30% | $89,093 |
Company stock funds | 7% | $21,871 |
Asset classes with most contributions in December | Percentage of contributions | Index dollar value($mil) |
Target date funds2 | 50% | $603 |
Large U.S. equity funds | 22% | $267 |
International equity funds | 7% | $86 |
Returns for common indices | December | 2025 YTD |
Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Aggregate Bond Index | -0.15% | 7.30% |
S&P 500 Index | 0.06% | 17.88% |
Russell 2000 Index | -0.58% | 12.81% |
MSCI All Country World ex-U.S. Index (net) | 3.00% | 32.39% |
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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