Trading activity was light in September with just two above-normal1 days, according to the Alight Solutions 401(k) IndexTM. When investors were active, however, there was a flight to safety, as fixed income funds experienced net inflows on 18 of the 20 trading days. Bond funds (45%) saw the most inflows, while large U.S. equity (36%) and company stock (26%) experienced the most outflows.
September observations:
• On average, 0.009% of 401(k) balances were traded daily.
• 18 of 20 days favored fixed income funds.
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Inflows and outflows during the month of September:
• Trading inflows mainly went to bond, money market and stable value funds. • Outflows were primarily from large U.S. equity, company stock and target date funds2. |
Asset classes with most trading inflows in September | Percentage of inflows | Index dollar value ($mil) | |
| Bond funds | 45% | $157 | |
| 27% | $94 | |
| Stable value funds | 26% | $90 |
Asset classes with most trading outflows in September | Percentage of outflows | Index dollar value ($mil) |
Large U.S. equity funds | 36% | $124 |
Company stock | 26% | $90 |
| Target date funds2 | 19% | $67 |
September investment portfolios:
• After reflecting market movements and trading activity, average asset allocation in equities decreased from 72.9% in August to 72.2% in September.
• New contributions to equities remained at 69.5% from August to September.
Asset classes with largest percentage of total balance at the end of September | Percentage of balance | Index dollar value ($mil) |
Target date funds2 | 31% | $83,932 |
Large U.S. equity funds | 29% | $77,609 |
Company stock funds | 7% | $19,517 |
Asset classes with most contributions in September | Percentage of contributions | Index dollar value($mil) |
Target date funds2 | 51% | $567 |
Large U.S. equity funds | 21% | $231 |
International equity funds | 7% | $73 |
Returns for common indices | September | 2024 YTD |
Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Aggregate Bond Index | 1.34% | 4.45% |
S&P 500 Index | 2.14% | 22.08% |
Russell 2000 Index | 0.70% | 11.17% |
MSCI All Country World ex-U.S. Index (net) | 2.69% | 14.21% |
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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