Workers are putting a record low amount of their 401(k) assets into their companies' stocks, according to a new report.

More 401(k) plan participants held equities in their accounts at the end of 2015 than before the 2008 global financial crisis, but fewer of those equity assets were in their employers' stock, according to a recently released analysis from the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) and the Investment Company Institute (ICI). 

Less than 7 percent of the assets in the EBRI/ICI 401(k) database were invested in company stock at the end of 2015, down from 19 percent in 1999 and the lowest level since EBRI/ICI started tracking 401(k) plan trends in 1996.

The EBRI report covered 401(k) participant activity through the end of 2015. It was based on an EBRI/ICI database containing information on 26.1 million plan participants—representing about 48 percent of all 401(k) plan participants.

Two-thirds of 401(k) assets are held in equity securities through equity funds, the equity portion of balanced funds and company stock, according to the report. Twenty-seven percent of 401(k) assets are held in fixed-income securities.

About 65 percent of 401(k) plans were offering target-date funds as part of their investment lineups, and 75 percent of plan participants had access to TDFs, according to the report. About 20 percent of the assets were held in target-date funds.

Most new workers are electing to invest in balanced strategies, including target-date funds, the report said. Seventy percent of recently hired participants, defined as those enrolled in their plans for two consecutive years or less, held balanced funds in their 401(k) accounts. Balanced funds accounted for 41 percent of the account balances of recently hired participants. TDFs accounted for 34 percent of the account balances of the recently hired.

Recently hired participants, according to the report, are less likely to hold company stock: Around one-quarter of recently hired participants in plans offering company stock held company stock, compared to 43 percent of all 401(k) participants able to access company stock.

Participants in their 40s with more than two-to-five years of tenure had average 401(k) balances near $35,000, while participants in their 60s with more than 30 years of plan tenure had average account balances of $280,000.

Younger plan participants are becoming better allocated, according to the report. About three-quarters of participants in their 20s had more than 80 percent of their 401(k) assets in equities. In 2007, less than half of the participants in their 20s had at least 80 percent of their assets invested in equities.

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