Positive Fourth Quarter and Year-to-Date Returns in 2009 for U.S. Master Trust Universe, According to BNY Mellon Asset Servicing
17 February 2010 - 12:35AM
PR Newswire (US)
Full year returns up almost 20%, compared to 25% drop in 2008; 99%
of plans in the black for Q4 BOSTON, Feb. 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/
-- The median plan in the BNY Mellon U.S. Master Trust Universe
posted a 3.30% return for the fourth quarter of 2009, the third
straight quarter of positive returns. Year-to-date returns are up
almost 20%, a significant contrast to 2008 when many investors were
in the red by almost 25%. With a market value of $1.16 trillion and
an average plan size of $1.66 billion, the BNY Mellon U.S. Master
Trust Universe is a fund-level tracking service that can be used to
make peer comparisons of both performance and asset allocation
results. The Universe consists of 699 corporate, foundation,
endowment, public, Taft-Hartley and health care plans. "Endowments
and Foundations were the top performers in the fourth quarter,
returning 3.70% and 3.60% respectively, as alternative strategies
started to rebound," said Greg Stewart, managing director and
regional product manager of BNY Mellon Asset Servicing. "However,
for the full calendar year, Corporate Pensions had the strongest
returns with a median result of 21.00%." Highlights -- 99% of the
plans in the universe posted positive results for the three-month
period ending December 31, 2009. For the twelve months ending
December 31, 2009, a similar pattern is evident with just a single
plan posting a return below zero. -- Nearly 15% of the plans
matched or outperformed the custom policy return of 4.18% in the
fourth quarter. For the twelve-month period, 29% of the plans
matched or outperformed the custom policy return of 22.67%. --
Endowments were the top performing plan type for the fourth quarter
with a 3.70% median return, followed by foundations, public,
corporate pensions, Taft-Hartley and health care plans. -- U.S.
equities led all asset classes for the quarter with a median return
of 5.87%, compared to the Russell 3000 Index return of 5.90%.
Non-U.S. equities returned 3.43%, underperforming the MSCI All
Country World ex US Index return of 4.13%. U.S. fixed income posted
a result of 0.92%, versus the Barclays Capital U.S. Aggregate Bond
Index return of 0.20%. Non-U.S. fixed income posted a median return
of 1.15%, ahead of the Citigroup Non-US Dollar World Government
Bond Index return of -2.15%. "2009 was the year of equities with
U.S. stocks returning 29% and non-U.S. equities exceeding 37% for
the twelve months ending December 31, aided by the U.S. dollar's
weakening against many currencies. Fixed income returns were also
robust for the year with Corporate debt especially strong," said
Stewart. The average asset allocation in the BNY Mellon U.S. Master
Trust Universe for the fourth quarter was: U.S. equity 34%, U.S.
fixed income 26%, non-U.S. equity 17%, non-U.S. fixed income 2%,
alternative investments 9%, real estate 2%, cash 1%, and other
(oil, gas, etc.) 9%. BNY Mellon Asset Servicing offers clients
worldwide a broad spectrum of specialized asset servicing
capabilities, including custody and fund services, securities
lending, performance and analytics, and execution services. BNY
Mellon is the corporate brand of The Bank of New York Mellon
Corporation [NYSE: BK]. BNY Mellon is a global financial services
company focused on helping clients manage and service their
financial assets, operating in 34 countries and serving more than
100 markets. The company is a leading provider of financial
services for institutions, corporations and high-net-worth
individuals, providing superior asset management and wealth
management, asset servicing, issuer services, clearing services and
treasury services through a worldwide client focused team. It has
$22.3 trillion in assets under custody and administration, $1.1
trillion in assets under management, services $12.0 trillion in
outstanding debt and processes global payments averaging $1.6
trillion per day. Additional information is available at
http://www.bnymellon.com/. BNY Mellon U.S. Master Trust Universe
Median Plan Returns Period Ending December 31, 2009 Number of 4Q
One- Five- Ten- Universe Participants 2009 Year Years Years
----------------------------- ------------ ---- ------ ----- -----
Master Trust Total Fund 699 3.30 19.47 3.66 3.79 Corporate Plans
257 3.26 21.00 3.80 3.73 Foundations 89 3.60 20.07 3.78 3.95
Endowments 91 3.70 17.52 4.24 4.09 Public Plans 121 3.43 19.66 3.55
3.89 Taft-Hartley Plans 66 2.72 17.39 2.59 3.45 Health Care Plans
17 2.44 17.22 3.93 NA Universe Custom Composite Benchmark 4.18
22.67 2.00 1.19 Russell 3000 Index: Russell Investment Group is the
owner of the trademarks, service marks, and copyrights related to
its indexes Barclays Capital U.S. Aggregate Bond Index: © Barclays
Bank PLC 2009. This data is provided by Barclays Bank PLC all
rights are reserved Citigroup Non-US Dollar World Government Bond
Index: © Citigroup Global Markets Inc., 2009. All rights reserved
MSCI All Country World ex US Index: Morgan Stanley Capital
International, MSCI, ACWI, EAFE, EMF and all other index service
marks referred to in the MSCI US equity index series materials are
the exclusive property of MSCI and its affiliates. Copyright © 2009
Morgan Stanley Capital International Inc. All rights reserved.
DATASOURCE: BNY Mellon CONTACT: Joseph F. Ailinger Jr.,
+1-617-722-7571, Web Site: http://www.bnymellon.com/
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