At least for their company sponsored retirement plan, we have the data to answer this question thanks to the Department of Labor (DoL).
401(k) plan sponsors are required to file Form 5500 with the DoL every year.
Form 5500 lists which investments Apple 401(k) plan participants have selected for their retirement funds—giving us insight into how Apple employees choose to invest for retirement.
What do Apple employees invest in?
The first thing to note is that they don’t directly invest in shares of Apple stock. As opposed to some other tech companies (e.g., Amazon), Apple doesn’t offer their own shares as an investment option.
The single largest holding by plan participants is the low-cost Vanguard Institutional 500 Index Trust with 15% of plan assets. This fund tracks the performance of the S&P 500 Index, representing around 500 of the largest companies in the United States—a great choice for a core investment holding.
Coming in second place—with 10% of plan assets—is the Fidelity Contrafund Commingled Pool with $1.6 billion in assets. This commingled pool is actively managed and seeks to “capitalize on…research by selecting those stocks whose value the manager believes is not fully recognized… (the fund) may invest in domestic and foreign issuers in either “growth” or “value” stocks.”
Five of the next six largest holdings are all BlackRock Global LifePath target retirement funds.
These funds are designed to shift their holdings as the target retirement year approaches. They gradually shift to more bonds and fewer equities. In other words, they become more conservative as time passes.
The largest LifePath holding for Apple employees is the Global LifePath Index 2050, designed for people planning to retire around the year 2050.
Plan assets as of 12/31/2021
(From Apple’s July 2022 filing of Form 5500)
| Investment | % |
| Vanguard Institutional 500 Index | 15% |
| Fidelity Contrafund Commingled Pool | 10% |
| BlackRock Global LifePath 2050 | 8% |
| BlackRock Global LifePath 2045 | 8% |
| BlackRock Global LifePath 2040 | 6% |
| BlackRock Global LifePath 2055 | 6% |
| Vanguard Extended Market Index | 5% |
| BlackRock Global LifePath 2035 | 5% |
| Vanguard Total Int’l Stock Index Trust | 4% |
| Vanguard Total Bond Market Index | 3% |
| Vanguard Russell 2000 Growth Index Trust | 3% |
| BlackRock Global LifePath 2035 | 3% |
| All other | 22% |
| Total Assets (excluding participant loans) | 100% |
See the Apple 401(k) page for additional plan details and value of holdings.
Retirement Fund Distribution by Target Year
The distribution of assets in LifePath Index target retirement funds—which represent over 40% of total plan assets—provide a rough view of when participating employee plan to retire (and you could potentially infer their age distribution as well).
The largest holdings are in the LifePath Index 2045 and 2050 funds. These investments should represent employees who plan to retire in the next 20 to 25 years.
Source: 2021 Form 5500 for Apple’s 401k plan
