Never miss a story — sign up for PLANADVISER newsletters to keep up on the latest retirement plan adviser news.
Participant Accounts See Little Movement in March
Transfers averaged 0.026% of total balances daily—just above the trailing 12-month average at 0.025%, and March had only three days with transfer activity above normal total net transfer activity in March was moderate, totaling $345 million or 0.24% of total participant balances.
However, for the first quarter, total net transfer activity was among the highest quarters on record. In total, $1.19 billion moved into diversified equities, which is the largest quarterly dollar reported by the Aon Hewitt 401(k) Index (1997 inception). As a percent of total participant balances, the quarter totaled 0.88%—the highest since the current bull market began in the second quarter of 2009.
Net daily transfers favored fixed-income funds for 35% of trading days in March, compared with 63% in February. Transfers into diversified equities (equity excluding company stock) asset classes totaled $277 million of total flows or 0.20% of total assets, up significantly from 0.06%.
Similar to February, March total net outflows were heavily concentrated among two asset classes: company stock funds, losing $175 million (51%), and bond funds, losing $155 million (45%). In addition, GIC/stable value and international funds lost $10 million (3%) and $4 million (1%), respectively.
Net inflows for most asset classes were reported this month. The largest inflows were in large U.S. equity funds, which gained $128 million (37%), followed by premixed funds with $108 million (31%) and small U.S. equity with $62 million (18%).
Another measure of participant sentiment, employee discretionary contributions, shows participants increased their equity allocations to 64.0% in March, up from 63.4% in February. In addition, fueled by the rising market, participants’ overall equity allocation reached 61.8%, compared with 61.1% at the end of February—the highest equity allocation recorded by the Aon Hewitt 401(k) Index in nearly two years.
More information is here.
You Might Also Like:
![](https://si-interactive.s3.amazonaws.com/prod/planadviser-com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/14123617/PA-061424-Mutual-Funds-Maintain-Lead-in-DC-Adviser-Sold-Market-1493265003-web-432x243.jpg)
Mutual Funds Maintain Lead in DC Adviser-Sold Market
![](https://si-interactive.s3.amazonaws.com/prod/planadviser-com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/03134720/PA-060324-Plan-Sponsors-Offer-Advisory-Services-1494976167-web-432x243.jpg)
Plan Sponsors Increasingly Offer Financial Adviser Services
![](https://si-interactive.s3.amazonaws.com/prod/planadviser-com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/06110053/PA-050624-401k-Trading-Up-1128575974-web-432x243.jpg)