VanDerhei Jack, Holden Sarah, Alonso Luis, Bass Steven
Employee Benefit Research Institute, Washington, DC 20005-4051, USA.
EBRI Issue Brief. 2012 Dec(380):1-52.
THE BULK OF 401(K) ASSETS CONTINUED TO BE INVESTED IN STOCKS: On average, at year-end 2011, 61 percent of 401(k) participants' assets was invested in equity securities through equity funds, the equity portion of balanced funds, and company stock. Thirty-four percent was in fixed-income securities such as stable-value investments and bond and money funds. SEVENTY-TWO PERCENT OF 401(K) PLANS INCLUDED TARGET-DATE FUNDS IN THEIR INVESTMENT LINEUP AT YEAR-END 2011: At year-end 2011, 13 percent of the assets in the EBRI/ICI 401(k) database was invested in target-date funds and 39 percent of 401(k) participants held target-date funds. Also known as lifecycle funds, these funds are designed to offer a diversified portfolio that automatically rebalances to be more focused on income over time. MORE NEW OR RECENT HIRES INVESTED THEIR 401(K) ASSETS IN BALANCED FUNDS, INCLUDING TARGET-DATE FUNDS: For example, at year-end 2011, 51 percent of the account balances of recently hired participants in their 20s was invested in balanced funds, compared with 44 percent in 2010, and about 7 percent in 1998. A significant subset of that balanced fund category is target-date funds. At year-end 2011, 40 percent of the account balances of recently hired participants in their 20s was invested in target-date funds, compared with 35 percent at year-end 2010. 401(K) PARTICIPANTS CONTINUED TO SEEK DIVERSIFICATION OF THEIR INVESTMENTS: The share of 401(k) accounts invested in company stock remained at 8 percent in 2011. This share has fallen by more than half since 1999. Recently hired 401(k) participants contributed to this trend: They tended to be less likely to hold employer stock. PARTICIPANTS' 401(K) LOAN ACTIVITY REMAINED STEADY, ALTHOUGH LOAN BALANCES INCREASED SLIGHTLY IN 2011: At year-end 2011, 21 percent of all 401(k) participants who were eligible for loans had loans outstanding against their 401(k) accounts, unchanged from year-end 2009 and year-end 2010, and up from 18 percent at year-end 2008. Loans outstanding amounted to 14 percent of the remaining account balance, on average, at year-end 2011, unchanged from year-end 2010. Loan amounts outstanding increased slightly from those at year-end 2010. THE YEAR-END 2011 AVERAGE ACCOUNT BALANCE IN THE DATABASE WAS 2.2 PERCENT LOWER THAN THE YEAR BEFORE, BUT MAY NOT ACCURATELY REFLECT THE EXPERIENCE OF TYPICAL 401(K) PARTICIPANTS IN 2011: To understand changes in 401(k) participants' average account balances, it is important to analyze a sample of consistent participants. As with previous EBRI/ICI updates, analysis of a sample of consistent 401(k) participants (those that have been in the same plan since 2003) is expected to be published in 2013.
401(k)计划的大部分资产仍投资于股票：2011年年末，401(k)计划参与者平均61%的资产通过股票基金、平衡基金的股票部分以及公司股票投资于权益证券。34%投资于固定收益证券，如稳定价值投资、债券和货币基金。2011年年末，72%的401(k)计划在其投资组合中纳入了目标日期基金：2011年年末，EBRI/ICI 401(k)数据库中13%的资产投资于目标日期基金，39%的401(k)计划参与者持有目标日期基金。这些基金也被称为生命周期基金，旨在提供多元化投资组合，并会随着时间自动重新平衡，使其更侧重于收益。更多新入职或近期入职员工将其401(k)资产投资于平衡基金，包括目标日期基金：例如，2011年年末，20多岁的近期入职参与者51%的账户余额投资于平衡基金，2010年为44%，1998年约为7%。该平衡基金类别中的一个重要子集是目标日期基金。2011年年末，20多岁的近期入职参与者40%的账户余额投资于目标日期基金，2010年年末为35%。401(k)计划参与者继续寻求投资多元化：2011年，投资于公司股票的401(k)账户比例维持在8%。自1999年以来，这一比例已下降了一半多。新入职的401(k)计划参与者推动了这一趋势：他们持有雇主股票的可能性往往较低。参与者的401(k)贷款活动保持稳定，尽管2011年贷款余额略有增加：2011年年末，所有符合贷款条件且有未偿还贷款的401(k)计划参与者中，21%的人有401(k)账户未偿还贷款，与2009年年末和2010年年末持平，高于2008年年末的18%。2011年年末，未偿还贷款平均占剩余账户余额的14%，与2010年年末持平。未偿还贷款金额较2010年年末略有增加。201年1年年末数据库中的平均账户余额比上一年低2.2%，但可能无法准确反映2011年401(k)计划普通参与者的情况：要了解401(k)计划参与者平均账户余额的变化，分析连续参与者的样本很重要。与之前EBRI/ICI的更新情况一样，对连续401(k)计划参与者（自2003年以来一直参与同一计划的人）样本的分析预计将于2013年发布。
