March observations:
- Average net trading activity was 0.015% of 401(k) balances, down from 0.016% in February. This is in sharp contrast to the 0.079% seen last March during the stock selloff at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Four days favored fixed income funds and 19 days favored equity funds.
The Alight Solutions 401(k) Index statistics for the month of March:
|
Index statistics
|
March
|
2021 YTD
|
|
Total transfers as percentage of starting balance
|
0.22%
|
0.46%
|
|
# Fixed days
|
4 (17%)
|
18 (30%)
|
|
# Equity days
|
19 (83%)
|
43 (70%)
|
|
# Above-normal days
|
0
|
1
|
Inflows and outflows during the month of March:
- Trading inflows mainly went to small U.S. equities, target date funds2 and large U.S. equities.
|
- Outflows were primarily from bond funds, stable value and company stock.
|
|
Asset classes with most trading inflows in March
|
Percentage of Inflows
|
Index dollar value ($mil)
|
|
Small U.S. equities
|
27%
|
$145
|
|
Target date funds
|
20%
|
$107
|
|
Large U.S. equities
|
15%
|
$80
|
|
Asset classes with most trading outflows in March
|
Percentage of Outflows
|
Index dollar value ($mil)
|
|
Bond
|
52%
|
$284
|
|
Stable value
|
24%
|
$129
|
|
Company stock
|
14%
|
$75
|
March investment portfolios:
- After reflecting market movements and trading activity, average asset allocation in equities increased from 68.3% in February to 69.0% in March.
- New contributions to equities increased from 68.6% in February to 69.8% in March.
|
Asset classes with largest percentage of total balance at the end of March
|
Percentage of Balance
|
Index dollar value ($mil)
|
|
Target date funds
|
30%
|
$75,761
|
|
Large U.S. equity funds
|
25%
|
$64,542
|
|
Stable value funds
|
8% |
$21,383 |
|
Asset classes with most contributions in March
|
Percentage of contributions
|
Index dollar value ($mil)
|
|
Target date funds
|
42%
|
$816
|
|
Large U.S. equity funds
|
22%
|
$427
|
|
International equity funds
|
8%
|
$157
|
March market returns:
|
Returns for common indices
|
March
|
2021 YTD
|
|
Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Aggregate Index
|
-1.25%
|
-3.37%
|
|
S&P 500 Index
|
4.38%
|
6.17%
|
|
Russell 2000 Index
|
1.00%
|
12.70%
|
|
MSCI All Country World ex-U.S. Index (net)
|
1.26%
|
3.49%
|
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.