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The Markets August 2, 2017
401(k) Participant Transfers Favor Equities in May and June
However, according to the Alight Solutions 401(k) Index, formerly the Aon Hewitt 401(k) Index, trading activity for the months was the lowest for the year.
Reported by Rebecca Moore
On average, 0.013% of participant 401(k) balances traded each day in May and June, the lightest trading months of the year, according to the Alight Solutions 401(k) Index, formerly the Aon Hewitt 401(k) Index.
The Index has a new name and website because when Aon sold its benefits administration and outsourcing business to Blackstone in May, the 401(k) Index went with the new company.
In both May and June, there were no days of above normal trading activity, and equities were favored when participants made trades. In May, 56% of inflows went to international funds, consistent with April, and outflows were primarily from company stock (33%) and stable value funds (27%). In June, 39% of inflows went to international funds and 23% went to target-date funds, and outflows were primarily from company stock (34%), stable value (28%), and small U.S. equity funds (21%).
At the end of May, 66.9% of balances were in equities, up from 66.6% at the end of April, and 67.2% of new contributions are in equities, up from 66.8% in April. At the end of June, 67% of balances were invested in equities, and 67.1% of new contributions were invested in equities.
Target-date funds were the asset class with the largest percentage of total balanes at the end of each month.
More about the May index is here. More about the June index is here.