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Alight Solutions 401(k) Index™: November 2023 Observations

Alight Solutions 401(k) Index™: November 2023 Observations

November trading saw two above-normal1 days, according to the Alight Solutions 401(k) IndexTM. Investors favored equities on 11 of 21 days. Large U.S. equity (60%), bond (23%) and money market (7%) funds saw the most inflows, while target date2 (38%), company stock (19%) and stable value (16%) funds experienced the most outflows. New contributions to equities increased from 68.8% in October to 69.1%, the first time over 69% since April 2022.

November observations:

  •  On average, 0.008% of 401(k) balances were traded daily.
  • 11 of 21 days favored equity funds.

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

Index statistics

November

2023 YTD

Total transfers as percentage of starting balance

0.1%

0.73%

# Fixed days

10 (48%)

141(61%)

# Equity days

11 (52%)

89 (39%)

# Above-normal1 days

2

10


Inflows and outflows during the month of November:

  • Trading inflows mainly went to large U.S. equity, bond and money market funds.
  • Outflows were primarily from target date,2 company stock and stable value funds.


Asset classes with most trading 

inflows in November

Percentage of inflows

Index dollar value ($mil)

Large U.S. equity funds

60%

$141

Bond funds

23%

$54

Money market funds

7%

$17

Asset classes with most trading 

outflows in November

Percentage of outflows

Index dollar value ($mil)

Target date funds2

38%

$89

Company stock

19%

$45

Stable value funds

16%

$37


November investment portfolios:

  • After reflecting market movements and trading activity, average asset allocation in equities increased from 69.2% in October to 70.2% in November.
  • New contributions to equities increased from 68.8% in October to 69.1% in November.

Asset classes with largest percentage

of total balance at the end of November

  Percentage of balance

  Index dollar value ($mil)  

Target date funds2

32%

$76,334

Large U.S. equity funds

28%

$66,486

Stable value funds

7%

$18,037

Asset classes with most 

contributions in November

Percentage of contributions

Index dollar value($mil)

Target date funds2

51%

$619

Large U.S. equity funds

21%

$249

International equity funds

7%

$88


Returns for common indices

November

2023 YTD

Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Aggregate Index

4.53%

1.64%

S&P 500 Index

9.13%

20.80%

Russell 2000 Index

9.05%

4.20%

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

9.00%

10.09%

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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