Canada (EN)
Retirement plan trading remained relatively modest in June, with 0.15% of assets transferred and 16 of 21 trading days favoring fixed income. While broad market returns were mixed, participants continued to lock in gains from strong performers within their portfolios. The S&P 500 declined 0.95% in June, while the Russell 2000 gained 3.74%, highlighting a divergence in market performance.
The most notable shift was the concentration of trading out of company stock. Strong performance in a small number of company stock funds prompted participants to realize gains, with company stock accounting for 74% of all trading outflows in June. Beyond company stock, outflows were concentrated in large U.S. equity and small U.S. equity funds, while inflows favored bond funds, stable value and emerging markets.
Despite this profit-taking activity, overall portfolios remained heavily invested in equities. Average equity allocations increased to 74.3%, and 71% of contributions continued to flow into equity funds. The contrast suggests that while some participants used strong gains in select holdings as an opportunity to rebalance and capture profits, long-term saving and investment behavior remained largely unchanged.
June observations:
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Inflows and outflows during the month of June:
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Asset classes with most trading inflows in June | Percentage of inflows | Index dollar value ($mil) |
| Bond funds | 42% | $191 |
| Stable value | 26% | $120 |
| Emerging markets | 10% | $45 |
Asset classes with most trading outflows in June | Percentage of outflows | Index dollar value ($mil) |
| Company stock | 74% | $339 |
| Large U.S. equity | 20% | $90 |
| Small U.S. equity | 5% | $22 |
June investment portfolios: |
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Asset classes with largest percentage of total balance at the end of June | Percentage of balance | Index dollar value ($mil) |
Target date funds2 | 31% | $97,057 |
Large U.S. equity funds | 29% | $92,273 |
Company stock funds | 9% | $27,745 |
Asset classes with most contributions in June | Percentage of contributions | Index dollar value($mil) |
Target date funds2 | 50% | $554 |
Large U.S. equity funds | 23% | $255 |
International equity funds | 7% | $80 |
Returns for common indices | May | 2026 YTD |
Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Aggregate Bond Index | 0.24% | 0.62% |
S&P 500 Index | -0.95% | 10.21% |
Russell 2000 Index | 3.74% | 22.57% |
MSCI All Country World ex-U.S. Index (net) | -0.59% | 13.68% |
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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