Investing September 20, 2001

Hewitt Index Returns to Normal

September 20, 2001 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - Participant investment returned to normal levels on Tuesday, in line with those seen the week preceding the terrorist attacks on New York City and Washington DC.
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On Tuesday, following Monday’s market frenzy, which saw 401(k) plan participants moving $400 million in plan assets into debt instruments, net activity, as a percentage of total balance, fell to 0.04%, in comparison to Monday’s 0.58%. Money flowed in the direction of more stable debt assets, according to the Hewitt 401(k) Index.

And losses recorded by the major US equity indices, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which fell 0.2%, the Nasdaq, which decreased by 1.56%, and the S&P 500, which lost 0.7%, also seemed smaller, in comparison to Monday’s sell-off, the first day the market reopened after last weeks terrorist attack. 

Tuesday’s activity was only 0.66 times the “normal” level of trading, in comparison to Monday’s record level, which saw trading levels nine times higher than normal, according to figures from Hewitt.

The Hewitt 401(k) index tracks the daily transfer activity of nearly 1.5 million US employees with $71 billion in assets.

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