October AAII Asset Allocation Survey: Cash Exposure Rebounds

Individual investors’ exposure to cash rebounded last month after having fallen to a 20-month low in September. The October AAII Asset Allocation Survey also shows decreases in exposure to equity and fixed-income investments.

Stock and stock fund allocations pulled back by 1.8 percentage points to 64.7%. Equity allocations are above their historical average of 61.0% for the 79th consecutive month.

Bond and bond fund allocations declined 0.6 percentage points to 18.3%. Fixed-income allocations were last lower in April 2019 (17.1%). Nonetheless, bond and bond fund allocations remained above their historical average of 16.0% for the eighth consecutive month and the ninth time in 10 months.

Cash allocations rose 2.4 percentage points to 17.0%. This is a four-month high. Even with the rebound, cash allocations remain below their historical average of 23.0% for the 95th consecutive month.

The change in cash may be partially due to differences in which AAII members participated in the survey during October relative to September. The rebound in yields may also have played a role. As far as stocks, optimism in our weekly sentiment survey continued to remain below average throughout October.

October AAII Asset Allocation Survey results:

• Stocks and stock funds: 64.7%, down 1.8 percentage points          
• Bonds and bond funds: 18.3%, down 0.6 percentage points          
• Cash: 17.0%, up 2.4 percentage points

October AAII Asset Allocation Survey details:

• Stocks: 28.2%, down 2.1 percentage points
• Stock funds: 36.6%, up 0.3 percentage points
• Bonds: 4.0%, down 0.1 percentage points
• Bond funds: 14.2%, 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.

• Stocks and Stock Funds: 64.7%, down 1.8 percentage points
• Bonds and Bond Funds: 18.3%, down 0.7 percentage points
• Cash: 17.0%, up 2.5 percentage points

• Stocks: 28.2%, down 2.1 percentage points
• Stocks Funds: 36.6%, up 0.3 percentage points
• Bonds: 4.0%, down 0.1 percentage points
• Bond Funds: 14.2%, down 0.6 percentage points

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