Fidelity Investments may be the nation's largest 401(k) administrator, but that didn't exempt it from feeling the effects of a stumbling stock market. To wit: The average balance for Fidelity accountholders fell 2.4 percent from the first quarter to $72,800 at the end of June, a figure that's about the same as last year's Q2 average, Mark Jewell reports for the AP today.

The decline can largely be attributed to the S&P 500, which fell 2.8 percent during this year's second quarter, Jewell writes. Even increased employee contributions (up $30 to $1,669 per employee and up $30 per employer from the same quarter the prior year), the improved broad U.S. bond market index (up nearly 2.1 percent), and strong first-quarter stock market performance didn't protect Fidelity from the decline.

Jewell notes that average employee contributions have grown a cumulative 58 percent since early 2009, when the financial crisis reduced the average balance to $46,200. But participants find it difficult to rely solely on investment gains to build up their 401(k)s, since stocks remain about 12 percent below their historic peak in October 2007, he wrote.  

Edited by: Irene Park


Stay ahead of the news ... Sign up for our email alerts now
CLICK HERE