September AAII Asset Allocation Survey: Cash Falls to a 20-Month Low

Individual investors’ exposure to cash fell to a 20-month low in September. The latest AAII Asset Allocation Survey also shows an increase in equity exposure and a modest decline in exposure to fixed-income investments.

Stock and stock fund allocations rebounded by 2.2 percentage points to 66.5%. Equity allocations are above their historical average of 61.0% for the 78th consecutive month.

Bond and bond fund allocations pulled back by 0.5 percentage points to 18.9%. Fixed-income allocations are above their historical average of 16.0% for the seventh consecutive month and the eighth time in nine months.

Cash allocations fell 1.7 percentage points to 14.6%. This is the smallest exposure to cash since January 2018 (13.3%). The drop also keeps cash allocations below their historical average of 23.0% for the 94th consecutive month.

Though the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note rebounded last month, certificate of deposit (CD) and money market account interest rates continued to decline. As far as stocks, optimism in our weekly sentiment survey improved compared to August but continued to remain below average.

September AAII Asset Allocation Survey results:

• Stocks and stock funds: 66.5%, up 2.2 percentage points
• Bonds and bond funds: 18.9%, down 0.5 percentage points         
• Cash: 14.6%, down 1.7 percentage points

September AAII Asset Allocation Survey details:

• Stocks: 30.3%, up 4.3 percentage points
• Stock Funds: 36.2%, down 2.0 percentage points
• Bonds: 4.1%, up 0.1 percentage points
• Bond Funds: 14.8%, down 0.6 percentage points

Historical Averages:

• Stocks/Stock Funds: 61.0%
• Bonds/Bond Funds: 16.0%
• Cash: 23.0%

The numbers are rounded and may not add up to 100%.

The AAII Asset Allocation Survey has been conducted monthly since November 1987 and asks AAII members what percentage of their portfolios are allocated to stocks, stock funds, bonds, bond funds and cash. The survey and its results are available online at: www.aaii.com/investor-surveys.

Want to weigh in? Take the survey yourself and see results online at www.aaii.com/assetallocationsurvey.