The average account balance across all participant self-directed brokerage accounts ended the second quarter at $335,008, up by 5.7% year over year and up by 2.1% from the first quarter, according to Charles Schwab's SDBA Indicators Report, released Thursday.
Second-quarter account balances rose as equity markets continued to rally, the report said. The economy showed resilience while the Federal Reserve held interest rates steady during the period.
Trading volumes averaged 12 trades per account, down slightly from 12.3 in the first quarter but higher compared with trades from a year ago.
SDBAs are brokerage accounts within workplace retirement plans that participants can use to invest retirement savings in individual stocks and bonds, as well as exchange-traded funds, mutual funds and other securities that are not part of their retirement plan's core investment offerings.
The SDBA Indicators Report includes data collected from some 290,000 retirement plan participants who have balances between $5,000 and $10 million in their Schwab Personal Choice Retirement Account. Researchers extract data quarterly on all accounts that are open as of quarter-end and meet the balance criteria.
Tech Stocks Are Tops
Overall, participant holdings in the second quarter were similar to those in the first quarter, according to the new report.
Equities remained participants' largest holding at 34.9%, with information technology the dominant sector at 37.9%, up from 34.6% last quarter, and Nvidia the largest individual stock holding at 11.1%.
Other top equity holdings: Apple, 10.7%; Amazon, 5.2%; Tesla, 5.1%; and Microsoft, 4.1%.
