Fourth Quarter Plan Sponsor Returns Stay Positive with U.S. Equity Continuing to Lead the Way, according to BNY Mellon U.S. Master Trust Universe/Asset Strategy View(SM)

NEW YORK, Feb. 21, 2017

With a market value of more than $1.9 trillion and an average plan size of $5.1 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 613 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 Q4, gaining 1.13% as they continued to benefit from a higher allocation to private equity," said Frances Barney, CFA, head of Global Risk Solutions at BNY Mellon. "The difference between endowments and corporate plans, the lowest performing group, was 195 basis points. Corporate plans were the only plan type with negative performance in Q4, losing -.82% owing to higher allocations to long duration fixed income. All asset classes continued to post positive results on a 1-year basis in the fourth quarter."

"U.S. equity continued as the top performing asset class with double-digit gains over the one-year period 12.66%, followed by Real Estate 8.72% and Non-US Fixed Income 5.92%," she added.

Q4 Highlights

• Over 68% of plans posted positive results during the quarter;
• Endowments saw the highest median return 1.13%, followed by foundations .85%;
• U.S. equities posted a quarterly median return of 4.13%, versus the Russell 3000 Index return of 4.21%. Non-U.S. equities saw a median return of -1.86%, compared to the Russell Developed ex U.S. Large Cap Index result of -.59%. U.S. fixed income had a median return of -2.39%, versus the Barclays Capital U.S. Aggregate Bond Index return of -2.98%. Non-U.S. fixed income had a median return of -4.49%, versus the Citigroup Non-U.S. World Government Bond Index return of -10.84%. Real estate had a median return of 1.89%, versus the NCREIF Property Index result of 1.73%.

The average asset allocation in the BNY Mellon U.S. Master Trust Universe for the fourth quarter was: US Equity 19%, 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 8%, Private Equity 11%, Other Real Assets 3%, Hedge Funds 9%, Cash 3%, and Other 1%.