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

NEW YORK, May 17, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The median return of the BNY Mellon U.S. Master Trust Universe, a fund-level tracking service, was +4.26% for the first quarter of 2017, marking the sixth straight quarter of positive results. The one-year return of +10.72% was above the Universe's 3-year annualized return of +5.36% and 5-year annualized return of +7.55% marking the fourth consecutive quarter of positive twelve-month performance.

With a market value of more than $1.9 trillion and an average plan size of $5.0 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 628 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 Q1, gaining +4.63% benefiting from a higher allocation to dedicated global equity mandates," said Frances Barney, CFA, head of Global Risk Solutions at BNY Mellon. Performance was strong across all plan types. The difference between Endowments and Taft-Hartley plans, the lowest performing group, was 81 basis points. Taft-Hartley performance lagged other plan types due to higher average fixed income allocations. All asset classes continued to post positive results on a 1-year basis in the first quarter.  U.S. equity continued as the top performing asset class with double-digit gains over the one-year period (+18.07%), followed by international equity (+13.28%) and real estate (+8.26%)," she added.

Q1 Highlights

• Over 99% of plans posted positive results during the quarter;
• Endowments saw the highest median return (+4.63%), followed by foundations (+4.52%);
• U.S. equities posted a quarterly median return of +5.68%, versus the Russell 3000 Index return of +5.74%. Non-U.S. equities saw a median return of +8.38%, compared to the Russell Developed ex U.S. Large Cap Index result of 7.18%. U.S. fixed income had a median return of 1.35%, versus the Barclays Capital U.S. Aggregate Bond Index return of 0.82%. Non-U.S. fixed income had a median return of 4.42%, versus the Citigroup Non-U.S. World Government Bond Index return of 2.02%. Real estate had a median return of +1.96%, versus the NCREIF Property Index result of +1.55%.

The average asset allocation in the BNY Mellon U.S. Master Trust Universe for the first quarter was: US Equity 20%, 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 7%,Private Equity 10%, Other Real Assets 2%, Hedge Funds 9%, Cash 3%, and Other 1%.

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.

BNY Mellon is a global investments company dedicated to helping its clients manage and service their financial assets throughout the investment lifecycle. Whether providing financial services for institutions, corporations or individual investors, BNY Mellon delivers informed investment management and investment services in 35 countries and more than 100 markets. As of March 31, 2017, BNY Mellon had $30.6 trillion in assets under custody and/or administration, and $1.7 trillion in assets under management. BNY Mellon can act as a single point of contact for clients looking to create, trade, hold, manage, service, distribute or restructure investments. BNY Mellon is the corporate brand of The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation (NYSE: BK). Additional information is available on www.bnymellon.com. Follow us on Twitter @BNYMellon or visit our newsroom at www.bnymellon.com/newsroom for the latest company news.

Russell 3000 Index and Russell Developed ex US Large Cap Index:  FTSE Russell is the source and owner of the Russell Index data contained or reflected in this material and all trademarks and copyrights related thereto.  The Russell Index data may contain confidential information and unauthorized use, disclosure, copying, dissemination or redistribution is strictly prohibited. Barclays Capital U.S. Aggregate Bond Index: © Barclays Bank PLC 2017.  This data is provided by Barclays Bank PLC all rights are reserved. Citigroup Non-US World Government Bond Index: © Citigroup Global Markets Inc., 2017. All rights reserved.

Information containing any historical information, data or analysis should not be taken as an indication or guarantee of any future performance, analysis, forecast or prediction. Past performance does not guarantee future results. The Information should not be relied on and is not a substitute for the skill, judgment and experience of the user, its management, employees, advisors and/or clients when making investment and other business decisions. None of the Information constitutes an offer to sell (or a solicitation of an offer to buy), any security, financial product or other investment vehicle or any trading strategy.

Contact:  

Cheryl Krauss    
BNY Mellon Investment Services   
e: cheryl.krauss@bnymellon.com
m: +1 212-635-8176 

Frank Pinto                              
BNY Mellon Investment Services
e: frank.pinto@bnymellon.com
m: +1 917-309-1065

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SOURCE BNY Mellon