Are warning lights flashing in the latest Alight Solutions 401(k) Index report for June? On Tuesday, Illinois-based Alight announced that it has merged with Trasimene Acquisition Corp., a special purpose acquisition company, on Tuesday. Alight also said it will begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the ticker symbols ALIT and ALITW.
But its June trading observations found average net trading activity was 0.009% of 401k balances, down from 0.011% in May. But importantly, participants allocated 70.2% of their retirement portfolios to equities, the highest level in 20 years.
Trading inflows mainly went to bond funds, international funds, and specialty/sector funds, while outflows were primarily from stable value funds, large U.S. equities, and self-directed brokerage windows.
After reflecting market movements and trading activity, average asset allocation in equities increased from 69.9% in May to 70.2% in June, the highest since May 2001.
New contributions to equities remained at 69.2%.
Merger mania
To commemorate the merger and the first day of trading, Chief Executive Officer Stephan Scholl, Chief Financial Officer Katie Rooney, and other members of the company’s management team rang the opening bell at the NYSE.
The 25-year-old Alight provides solutions across health, wealth, and global payroll. Alight’s business process as a service (“BPaaS”) solutions provide “the systems, tools and technologies employees need to maximize the value of their benefits and improve outcomes, driving increased productivity and helping employers develop high-performance cultures,” according to the company.
“A company has no greater asset, responsibility, or opportunity than to take care of and empower its employees,” Scholl said in a statement. “The lingering impact of the pandemic coupled with the global talent shortage has made this truer today than ever before. As a public company, Alight will continue to invest in our business and technology, like our Alight Worklife platform, to deliver solutions across health, wealth, and global payroll, that drive employee engagement and provide meaningful outcomes for our clients and their people while delivering value to our stakeholders.”
With more than 20 years serving financial markets, John Sullivan is the former editor-in-chief of Investment Advisor magazine and retirement editor of ThinkAdvisor.com. Sullivan is also the former editor of Boomer Market Advisor and Bank Advisor magazines, and has a background in the insurance and investment industries in addition to his journalism roots.
