With market volatility continuing, 401(k) investors remained busy but cautious traders in the second quarter of 2022, according to the Alight Solutions 401(k) IndexTM. There were 17 above-normal1 trading days in the quarter, slightly higher than the 16 above-normal days seen in Q1. Net transfers as a percentage of starting balances were 0.46%, identical to the percentage seen in the prior quarter. Net trading activity significantly favored fixed income.
Second quarter observations:
- Net transfers for the quarter were 0.46% of balances.
- 51 out of 62 trading days in the second quarter had net trading dollars moving from equities to fixed income.
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Alight Solutions 401(k) Index™ statistics for Q2 2022 and year-to-date: |
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Index statistics |
Q2 2022 |
2022 YTD |
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Total transfers as percentage of starting balance |
0.46% |
0.86% |
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# Fixed days |
51 (82%) |
93 (75%) |
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# Equity days |
11 (18%) |
31 (25%) |
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# Above-normal1 days |
17 |
33 |
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Asset classes with most trading inflows in Q2 2022 |
Percentage of inflows |
Index dollar value ($mil) |
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Stable value funds |
86% |
$964 |
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Money market funds |
13% |
$148 |
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Self-directed window funds |
1% |
$8 |
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Asset classes with most trading outflows in Q2 2022 |
Percentage of outflows |
Index dollar value ($mil) |
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Target date funds2 |
56% |
$629 |
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Large U.S. equity funds |
17% |
$194 |
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Company stock |
6% |
$62 |
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Returns for common indices |
Q2 2022 |
2022 YTD |
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Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Aggregate Index |
-4.7% |
-10.4% |
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S&P 500 Index |
-16.1% |
-20.0% |
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Russell 2000 Index |
-17.2% |
-25.2% |
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MSCI All Country World ex-U.S. Index (net) |
-13.7% |
-19.4% |
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.
