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November 24, 2020 at 11:09 AM
BNY Mellon reported last week that its U.S. Master Trust Universe returned a median 4.9% in the third quarter, building on the previous quarter’s strong 10.7% median return, itself a reversal of the first quarter’s 10.9% loss suffered by plans.
The U.S. Master Trust, which provides peer comparisons of performance by plan type and size, comprises 457 corporate, foundation, endowment, public, Taft-Hartley and health care plans with a total market value of some $2.1 trillion and an average plan size of more than $7 billion.
In aggregate, U.S. Master Trust Universe plans posted a one-year return of 8.1%, a three-year annualized return of 6.7% and a five-year annualized return of 8.2%, according to the third quarter report.
Endowments were the quarter’s highest performing plan type, returning a median 5.7%, down from 8.8% in the second quarter.
“Endowment performance was supported by the rebound in alternative asset performance from the second quarter as well as an asset allocation underweight of 20% in U.S. Fixed Income versus other plan types,” Frances Barney, head of global risk solutions at BNY Mellon, said in a statement.
Corporate plans underperformed other plan types in the third quarter, returning 4%, down from 11% in the second quarter. BNY Mellon said their allocation to U.S. fixed income investments — which returned a median 1.5% — was the highest of all plan types.
