Trading activity in retirement accounts picked up in September, according to the Alight Solutions 401(k) Index™. Many investors chose to move their money out of stocks into fixed income funds, showing a clear preference for safer options as the stock market was posting record highs. In fact, nearly every day of the month saw net trading activity favoring bonds, stable value funds or money market accounts.
September observations: |
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The Alight Solutions 401(k) Index statistics for the month of September: |
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Inflows and outflows during the month of September:
• Trading inflows mainly went to bond, stable value and money market funds. • Outflows were primarily from large U.S. equity, company stock and small U.S. equity funds. |
Asset classes with most trading inflows in September | Percentage of inflows | Index dollar value ($mil) |
| Bond funds | 39% | $171 |
| Stable value funds | 25% | $110 |
| Money markets funds | 18% | $79 |
Asset classes with most trading outflows in September | Percentage of outflows | Index dollar value ($mil) |
| Large U.S. equity funds | 38% | $168 |
| Company Stock | 28% | $122 |
| Small U.S. equity funds | 12% | $53 |
September investment portfolios: |
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Asset classes with largest percentage of total balance at the end of September | Percentage of balance | Index dollar value ($mil) |
Target date funds2 | 31% | $90,239 |
Large U.S. equity funds | 30% | $88,417 |
International equity funds | 7% | $19,919 |
Asset classes with most contributions in September | Percentage of contributions | Index dollar value($mil) |
Target date funds2 | 50% | $546 |
Large U.S. equity funds | 22% | $244 |
International equity funds | 7% | $78 |
Returns for common indices | September | 2025 YTD |
Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Aggregate Bond Index | 1.09% | 6.13% |
S&P 500 Index | 3.65% | 14.83% |
Russell 2000 Index | 3.11% | 10.39% |
MSCI All Country World ex-U.S. Index (net) | 3.60% | 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.
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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