Trading activity in retirement plans was light during the third quarter of 2025, according to the Alight Solutions 401(k) IndexTM. As stocks climbed to record highs, most participants chose to stay the course and watch their balances grow. When they did engage in trading, it was primarily for profit-taking, with nearly 90 percent of trading days seeing net money shift from equities to more conservative options, such as bond funds, money market funds and stable value funds.
Third quarter observations:
- Net transfers were 0.37% of balances.
- 57 out of 64 trading days had net trading dollars moving from equities to fixed income.
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Asset classes with most trading inflows in Q3 2025 | Percentage of inflows | Index dollar value ($mil) |
| Bond funds | 61% | $628 |
| Money market funds | 14% | $146 |
| Stable value funds | 8% | $84 |
Asset classes with most trading outflows in Q3 2025 | Percentage of outflows | Index dollar value ($mil) |
Large U.S. equity funds | 37% | $381 |
Company stock | 28% | $288 |
| Small U.S. equity funds | 17% | $171 |
Returns for common indices | Q3 2025 | 2025 YTD |
Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Aggregate Bond Index | 2.03% | 6.13% |
S&P 500 Index | 8.12% | 14.83% |
Russell 2000 Index | 12.39% | 10.39% |
MSCI All Country World ex-U.S. Index (net) | 6.89% | 26.02% |
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.
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