Despite market volatility in 2018, most defined contribution plan participants stayed the course with their asset allocations, according to a report from the Investment Company Institute released Thursday.
In 2018, 9.7% of DC plan participants changed the asset allocation of their account balances and 5.1% changed the asset allocation of their contributions. The results compare with reallocation activity levels of 9.3% and 5.5%, respectively, in 2017.
Participants also remained committed to saving for retirement. Almost all kept contributing to their plans throughout 2018, with only 2.3% stopping contributions, down from 2.7% the previous year.
Meanwhile, withdrawal activity remained low. Only 3.4% of DC plan participants took withdrawals in 2018 and even fewer — 1.6% — took hardship withdrawals, down slightly from 1.7% in 2017.
Participant loan activity also remained flat. At the end of 2018, 16.7% of DC plan participants had plan loans outstanding, the same share as in 2017.
ICI's report is based on DC plan record keeper data covering more than 30 million employer-based DC retirement plan participant accounts as of December 2018.
