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Investing December 17, 2013
DC Participants Less Active Investors in November
December 17, 2013 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - Defined contribution plan participants had average daily transfer activity decline in November compared to October, according to the Aon Hewitt 401(k) Index.
Reported by PLANSPONSOR staff
On average, 0.024% of total balances transferred daily, slightly below the 12-month daily average of 0.029%. Only two days in November had transfer activity above normal levels.
Total net transfer activity in November amounted to $370 million or 0.24% of total participant balances, and favored diversified equities for 70% of trading days in November. Transfers into equities totaled $339 million of total flows or 0.22% of total assets. Excluding company stock activity, diversified equity outflows totaled $231 million or 0.15% of participant balances.
Net outflow activity in November was led by GIC/stable value funds with $140 million (38%), company stock funds with $108 million (29%), and bond funds with $70 million (19%) transferring out. Among the asset classes with net inflows for November, large U.S. funds gained the most receiving $184 million (50%) of flows. Additionally, international funds had $112 million (30%), while mid U.S. equity funds claimed $38 million (10%) of the monthly inflows.
Employee discretionary contributions, another measure of participant sentiment, increased to 65.2% invested in equities for November, up from 65.0% in October. On average, participants’ overall equity allocation increased to 64.6% at the end of November, up from 64.1% in October.
More information about November participant transfer activity is here.