August Saw No Above-Normal Trading in Retirement Plans

August had no days of above-normal trading, the second consecutive month this has occurred since a year ago May and June, according to the Alight Solutions 401(k) Index. During the month, 15 out of 23 days favored fixed-income funds, representing 65% of the trades. By comparison, eight days favored equities, representing 35% of the trades.

Trading inflows mainly went to stable value funds (32%), mid U.S. equity funds (20%) and large U.S. equity funds (19%). Trading outflows were primarily from target-date funds (TDFs) (38%), company stock (32%) and emerging markets funds (13%).

On average, a mere 0.013% of 401(k) plan balances were traded daily. Asset allocation in equities increased to 69.2% at the end of last month, up slightly from 68.9% at the end of July. As for new contributions, 68.1% were invested in equities, the same percentage as in July.

Asset classes with the largest percentage of total balances at the end of August were target-date funds (28%, or $58.24 billion), large U.S. equity funds (25%, or $53.43 billion) and stable value funds (10%, or $20.55 billion).

Asset classes with the most contributions in August were target-date funds (47%, or $524 million), large U.S. equity funds (20%, or $223 million) and international funds (8%, or $88 million).

Domestic equities delivered positive returns for the month, with large U.S. equities up 3.3% and small U.S. equities up 4.3%. U.S. bonds gained 0.6%. International equities lost 02.1% during August.