Retirement investors were active traders in the second quarter of 2025 amid a volatile market, according to the Alight Solutions 401(k) IndexTM. In early April, investors rapidly moved funds from stocks to fixed income, resulting in high trading volumes. As Wall Street recovered, trading activity decreased.
Second quarter observations:
- Net transfers for the quarter were 0.46% of balances.
- 40 out of 62 trading days saw net trading dollars moving from equities to fixed income.
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Asset classes with most trading inflows in Q2 2025 | Percentage of inflows | Index dollar value ($mil) |
| Bond funds | 42% | $506 |
| Money market funds | 12% | $146 |
| Stable value funds | 11% | $130 |
Asset classes with most trading outflows in Q2 2025 | Percentage of outflows | Index dollar value ($mil) |
Target date funds2 | 92% | $1,120 |
Company stock | 6% | $74 |
| Mid U.S. equity funds | 2% | $26 |
Returns for common indices | Q2 | 2025 YTD |
Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Aggregate Bond Index | 1.21% | 4.02% |
S&P 500 Index | 10.94% | 6.20% |
Russell 2000 Index | 8.50% | -1.79% |
MSCI All Country World ex-U.S. Index (net) | 12.03% | 17.90% |
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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