BOSTON
May 14, 2009
Month of March returns back in the black
BOSTON, May 14, 2009 — The median plan in the BNY Mellon US Master Trust Universe posted a -6.07% return for the first quarter of 2009, representing the sixth straight quarter of negative returns. But that amount was less than half the loss posted for the fourth quarter of 2008 (-13.10%).
With a market value of $1.36 trillion and an average plan size of $2.3 billion, the BNY Mellon US 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 578 corporate, foundation, endowment, public, Taft-Hartley and health care plans.
"All segments of the BNY Mellon US Master Trust Universe were in negative territory for the first quarter, but fared quite a bit better than during the final quarter of 2008," said Greg Stewart, first vice president and regional product manager of BNY Mellon Asset Servicing. "In fact, the median return for the month of March 2009 was positive (3.68%) as equity markets, domestic and international rallied. Still, the financial impact of the last 18 months remains apparent in the extended period results, where the median plan posted annualized returns of just 0.20% and 2.68% over five and 10 years, respectively."
Highlights
"Once again, Health Care plans were the best performing segment during the first quarter with a return of -3.45%. This segment, which has a greater allocation to fixed income, benefitted from the stronger returns of the asset class," said Stewart. "When comparing asset class performance, U.S. and non-U.S. Fixed Income were the better relative plays, 0.36% and -0.76% respectively for the quarter versus Equities which were well in the red with significant losses despite the March rally."
The average asset allocation in the BNY Mellon US Master Trust Universe for the first quarter was: US equity 30%, US fixed income 31%, non-US equity 15%, non-US fixed income 1%, alternative investments 10%, real estate 2%, cash 2%, and other (private equity, 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 Asset Servicing provides services through The Bank of New York Mellon and other related companies.
The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation (NYSE: BK) 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 $19.5 trillion in assets under custody and administration, $881 billion in assets under management, services more than $11 trillion in outstanding debt and processes global payments averaging $1.8 trillion per day.
BNY Mellon US Trust Universe Median Plan Returns Period Ending March 31, 2009 Universe Number of 1Q One- Five- Ten- Participants 2009 Year Years Years Master Trust Total Fund 578 -6.07 -25.78 0.20 2.68 Corporate Plans 245 -6.48 -26.17 0.02 2.60 Foundations 89 -5.73 -26.95 0.14 3.19 Endowments 86 -5.47 -25.89 1.37 3.02 Public Plans 70 -6.22 -27.04 0.16 2.94 Taft-Hartley Plans 49 -6.46 -24.72 -0.74 2.28 Health Care Plans 20 -3.45 -17.16 1.07 3.14 Universe Custom Composite Benchmark -7.98 -30.66 -2.16 -0.31
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