401(k) Plan Asset Allocation, Account Balances, and Loan Activity in 2009

68 Pages Posted: 23 Nov 2010

See all articles by Jack VanDerhei

Jack VanDerhei

Morningstar Center for Retirement and Policy Studies

Sarah Holden

Investment Company Institute

Luis Alonso

Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI)

Date Written: November 1, 2010

Abstract

This paper is an update of the Employee Benefit Research Institute and the Investment Company Institute’s ongoing research into 401(k) plan participants’ activity through year-end 2009. The report is divided into five sections: The first describes the EBRI/ICI 401(k) database; the second focuses on changes in participant account balances over time, analyzing a group of consistent 401(k) participants; the third presents a snapshot of participant account balances at year-end 2009; the fourth looks at participants’ asset allocations, including analysis of 401(k) participants’ use of target-date funds (also called “lifecycle” funds); and the fifth focuses on participants’ 401(k) loan activity. Because 401(k) balances can fluctuate with market returns from year to year, meaningful analysis of 401(k) plans must examine how participants’ accounts have performed over the long term. Looking at consistent participants in the EBRI/ICI 401(k) database over the six-year period from 2003 to 2009 (which included one of the worst bear markets for stocks since the Great Depression), the study found: (1) After rising in 2003 and for the next four consecutive years, the average 401(k) retirement account fell 27.8 percent in 2008, before rising 31.9 percent in 2009; (2) The average 401(k) account balance moved up and down with stock market performance, but over the entire six-year time period increased at an average annual growth rate of 10.5 percent, attaining $109,723 at year-end 2009; (3) The median (or midpoint, half above and half below) 401(k) account balance increased at an average annual growth rate of 14.7 percent over the 2003-2009 period to $59,381 at year-end 2009.

On average, at year-end 2009, 60 percent of 401(k) participants’ assets were invested in equity securities through equity funds, the equity portion of balanced funds, and company stock. Thirty-six percent was in fixed-income securities such as stable-value investments and bond and money funds. At year-end 2009, nearly 10 percent of the assets in the EBRI/ICI 401(k) database was invested in target-date funds and 33 percent of 401(k) participants held target-date funds. Also known as lifecycle funds, they are designed to simplify investing and to automate account rebalancing. Across all but the oldest age group, more new or recent hires invested their 401(k) assets in balanced funds, including target-date funds. At year-end 2009, about 42 percent of the account balances of recently hired participants in their 20s were invested in balanced funds, compared with 36 percent in 2008, and about 7 percent in 1998. At year-end 2009, 31 percent of the account balances of recently hired participants in their 20s was invested in lifecycle funds, compared with almost 23 percent at year-end 2008. The share of 401(k) accounts invested in company stock continued to shrink, falling by half of a percentage point (to 9.2 percent) in 2009. That continued a steady decline that started in 1999. Recently hired 401(k) participants contributed to this trend: They tended to be less likely to hold employer stock. In 2009, 21 percent of all 401(k) participants eligible for loans had a loan outstanding against their 401(k) account, compared with 18 percent at year-end 2008 and year-end 2007. Loans outstanding amounted to 15 percent of the remaining account balance, on average, at year-end 2009, compared with 16 percent at year-end 2008. Loan amounts remained in line with the past few years in terms of typical dollar amounts.

Keywords: 401(k) Plans, Asset Allocation, Employment-Based Benefits, Life-Cycle Funds, Pension Plan Assets, Pension Plan Loans, Retirement Plans, Self-Directed Investments, Target-Date Funds

JEL Classification: D31, G11, J26

Suggested Citation

VanDerhei, Jack and Holden, Sarah and Alonso, Luis, 401(k) Plan Asset Allocation, Account Balances, and Loan Activity in 2009 (November 1, 2010). EBRI Issue Brief, No. 350, November 2010, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1713432

Jack VanDerhei (Contact Author)

Morningstar Center for Retirement and Policy Studies ( email )

22 W Washington Street
Chicago, IL 60602
United States

Sarah Holden

Investment Company Institute ( email )

1401 H Street, NW
Research Department
Washington, DC 20005
United States
(202) 326-5915 (Phone)

Luis Alonso

Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) ( email )

1100 13th Street, NW
Suite 878
Washington, DC 20005-4204
United States
202-775-6315 (Phone)
202-775-6312 (Fax)

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