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Alight Solutions 401(k) Index™: March 2021 observations

Amid a volatile but rising stock market, 401(k) investors were light traders and content to watch their balances rise, according to the Alight Solutions 401(k) Index. There were no days of above-normal activity.

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.

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

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Alight Solutions 401(k) IndexTM: Third Quarter 2026 Observations

Retirement plan trading slowed in the third quarter as markets delivered mixed results.

Alight Solutions 401(k) Index™: September 2026 observations

Participant trading remained limited in September, even as all four market benchmarks declined for the month. Total transfers represented just 0.06% of starting balances, with only one above-normal1 trading day.