First Quarter Plan Sponsor Returns Stay Positive with International Equity Leading the Way, according to BNY Mellon U.S. Master Trust Universe/Asset Strategy View®

NEW YORK, May 17, 2017

With a market value of more than $1.9 trillion and an average plan size of $5.0 billion, the BNY Mellon U.S. Master Trust Universe is a fund-level tracking service that can be used to make peer comparisons of performance by plan type and size. It consists of 628 corporate, foundation, endowment, public, Taft-Hartley, and health care plans. Launched last spring, Asset Strategy View provides detailed asset allocation, performance, and cash flow data for the majority of the BNY Mellon U.S. Master Trust Universe.

"Endowments outperformed all plan types in Q1, gaining +4.63% benefiting from a higher allocation to dedicated global equity mandates," said Frances Barney, CFA, head of Global Risk Solutions at BNY Mellon. Performance was strong across all plan types. The difference between Endowments and Taft-Hartley plans, the lowest performing group, was 81 basis points. Taft-Hartley performance lagged other plan types due to higher average fixed income allocations. All asset classes continued to post positive results on a 1-year basis in the first quarter.  U.S. equity continued as the top performing asset class with double-digit gains over the one-year period (+18.07%), followed by international equity (+13.28%) and real estate (+8.26%)," she added.

Q1 Highlights

• Over 99% of plans posted positive results during the quarter;
• Endowments saw the highest median return (+4.63%), followed by foundations (+4.52%);
• U.S. equities posted a quarterly median return of +5.68%, versus the Russell 3000 Index return of +5.74%. Non-U.S. equities saw a median return of +8.38%, compared to the Russell Developed ex U.S. Large Cap Index result of 7.18%. U.S. fixed income had a median return of 1.35%, versus the Barclays Capital U.S. Aggregate Bond Index return of 0.82%. Non-U.S. fixed income had a median return of 4.42%, versus the Citigroup Non-U.S. World Government Bond Index return of 2.02%. Real estate had a median return of +1.96%, versus the NCREIF Property Index result of +1.55%.

The average asset allocation in the BNY Mellon U.S. Master Trust Universe for the first quarter was: US Equity 20%, Non-US Equity 16%, Global Equity 5%, US Fixed Income 20%, Global Fixed Income 1%, Non-US Fixed Income 1%, Other Fixed Income 2%, TIPS/Inflation Linked Bonds 2%, Real Estate 7%,Private Equity 10%, Other Real Assets 2%, Hedge Funds 9%, Cash 3%, and Other 1%.

BNY Mellon's Asset Servicing business supports institutional investors in today's fast-evolving markets, safeguarding assets and enhancing the management and administration of client investments through services that process, monitor and measure data from around the world. We leverage our global footprint and local expertise to deliver insight and solutions across every stage of the investment lifecycle.