Investing September 26, 2001

Participants Finally Turn to Stocks, But Volume Remains High

September 26, 2001 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - Participant transfer activity continued to spike higher on Monday, but participants turned their attention to stocks for the first time in a month, according the Hewitt 401(k) Index.
Reported by

On a day when US equity markets soared, participant transfer volume was moderate, though still more than 1.5 times the normal levels for the Hewitt index, which tracks the activity of some 1.5 million participants.

The balances moved were just 0.11% of the roughly $71 billion tracked by the index, but it was the first day on which net transfers moved to stocks since August 24, according to Hewitt.

High Buy

While no doubt attempting to capture some of that uptick, participants transferring to stocks on that day probably bought in at a relative high for the week.

Trading on Friday, September 21 was considered high volume, with three times the normal trading volume, as participants continued to favor stable value investments.

Back to Normal

While notable compared with trading norms established within the index, participant transfer activity has been quite modest over time regardless of market turmoil or economic worries.

The Index tracks the daily transfer activity of nearly 1.5 million US employees with $71 billion in assets

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