Alight Solutions 401(k) Index™: February 2021 observations

February was a light trading month for 401(k) investors, according to the Alight Solutions 401(k) Index.

February was a light trading month for 401(k) investors, according to the Alight Solutions 401(k) Index^TM. There were no days of above-normal¹ activity. Monthly net transfers as a percentage of balances was 0.15%, down from 0.21% in January.

February observations:

Average net trading activity was 0.016% of 401(k) balances, down from 0.024% in January.
Four days favored fixed income funds and 15 days favored equity funds.

Alight Solutions 401(k) Index statistics for February 2021:

Index statistics	February	2021 YTD
Total transfers as percentage of starting balance	0.15%	0.31%
# Fixed days	4 (21%)	14 (37%)
# Equity days	15 (79%)	24 (63%)
# Above-normal days	0	1

Inflows and outflows during the month of February:

Trading inflows mainly went to small U.S. equities, mid U.S. equities and emerging markets.
Outflows were primarily company stock, stable value and bond funds.

Asset classes with most trading inflows in February

	Percentage of inflows	Index dollar value ($ mil)
Small U.S. equities	33%	$125
Mid U.S. equities	26%	$99
Emerging markets	15%	$58

Asset classes with most trading outflows in February

	Percentage of outflows	Index dollar value ($ mil)
Company stock	27%	$100
Stable value	24%	$91
Bond	21%	$78

February investment portfolios:

After reflecting market movements and trading activity, average asset allocation in equities increased from 67.6% in January to 68.3% in February.
New contributions to equities increased from 68.3% in January to 68.6% in February.

Asset classes with largest percentage of total balance at end of February

	Percentage of balance	Index dollar value ($ mil)
Target date funds²	30%	$73,985
Large U.S. equity funds	25%	$61,952
Stable value funds	9%	$21,501

Asset classes with most contributions in February

	Percentage of contributions	Index dollar value ($ mil)
Target date funds	44%	$731
Large U.S. equity funds	21%	$350
International equity funds	8%	$127

Returns for common indices

	February	2021 YTD
Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Aggregate Index	-1.4%	-2.2%
S&P 500 Index	2.8%	1.7%
Russell 2000 Index	6.2%	11.6%
MSCI All Country World ex-U.S. Index (net)	2.0%	2.2%

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 two times the average daily net activity of the preceding 12 months.
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.

Members of the media: please contact Landis Cullen for questions about the Alight Solutions 401(k) Index™.

Alight Solutions 401(k) Index™: February 2021 observations

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