• As the Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 11% in February, 401(k) participants made another large movement toward fixed income investments, according to the results of the Hewitt 401(k) Index™. A total of $484 million shifted from equities to fixed income funds during the month. In addition, nearly 80% of the days in February had fixed income-oriented transfers.


• GIC/stable value funds received 78% of the inflows in February, with $526 million moving into this asset class. Bond and money market funds had much smaller inflows, receiving $45 million and $21 million respectively. Company stock funds also experienced positive inflows of $81 million.


• On the other hand, nearly every equity asset class experienced outflows in February. Large U.S. equity was the biggest loser of the month, with $183 million moving out of these funds. Lifestyle funds also experienced $141 millions in outflows, followed by international funds with $120 million.


• The overall transfer activity in February was up slightly compared to January. About 0.06% of 401(k) balances transferred on a net daily basis during the month, versus 0.04% in January. A total of three days had transfers above normal* level. The day with the largest transfers was February 23. On that day, U.S. stocks closed down 3%, and the indices retreated to a level not seen since 1997. In reaction to the market movement, 401(k) participants made the largest daily transfer of the month, with $116 million shifted from equity to fixed income investments. On average, only $40 million transferred between equity and fixed income asset classes on a daily basis in February.


• Due to both market decline and participant transfers, the overall fixed income allocation in the Hewitt 401(k) index exceeded equity allocation for the first time since the inception of the index. By the end of February, only 47.7% of total assets were in equity investments.


• Employee-only equity contribution also declined slightly from 57.7% at the end of January to 57.2% at the end of February.

*A "normal" level of relative transfer activity is when the net daily movement of participants' balances as a percent of total 401(k) balances within the Hewitt 401(k) Index equals between 0.3 times and 1.5 times the average daily net activity of the preceding 12 months. A "high" relative transfer activity day is when the net daily movement exceeds two times the average daily net activity. A "moderate" relative transfer activity day is when the net daily movement is between 1.5 and two times the average daily net activity of the preceding 12 months.

The following tables show Hewitt 401(k) Index statistics and the returns of major market indices for the month of February 2009:

Dow Jones IA	-11.24%
Russell 2000	-12.15%
Barclays Capital Aggregate Bond Index	-0.38%
S&P 500	-10.65%
MSCI EAFE	-10.26%
NASDAQ	-6.68%

Number of Fixed Income Days	15
Number of Equity Days	4
Percent of Equity Days	21%