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

NEW YORK, Nov. 29, 2016

With a market value of more than $1.9 trillion and an average plan size of $5.2 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 594 corporate, foundation, endowment, public, Taft-Hartley, and health care plans. Launched this 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 Q3, gaining +3.81% as they benefited from a higher allocation to private equity," said Frances Barney, CFA, head of Consulting-Americas for Global Risk Solutions at BNY Mellon. "The difference between endowments and health care plans, the lowest performing group, was 50 basis points. All asset classes posted positive results in the third quarter.

"U.S. equity was the top performing asset class with double-digit gains over the one-year period (+14.39%), followed by non-U.S. fixed income (+11.17%) and non-U.S. equity (+9.89%)," she added.

Q3 Highlights

• Over 99% of plans posted positive results during the quarter;
• Endowments saw the highest median return (+3.81%), followed by foundations (+3.75%);
• U.S. equities posted a quarterly median return of +4.66%, versus the Russell 3000 Index return of +4.40%. Non-U.S. equities saw a median return of 6.71%, compared to the Russell Developed ex U.S. Large Cap Index result of 6.50%. U.S. fixed income had a median return of +1.12%, versus the Barclays Capital U.S. Aggregate Bond Index return of +0.46%. Non-U.S. fixed income had a median return of +2.72%, versus the Citigroup Non-U.S. World Government Bond Index return of +0.60%. Real estate had a median return of +2.34%, versus the NCREIF Property Index result of +1.77%.

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.

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