Median Total Master Trust Posts Third Consecutive Positive Return in Q4 2020 According to BNY Mellon U.S. Master Trust Universe

NEW YORK

February 19, 2021

Strong equity markets continue to drive positive plan performance with non-U.S. equity markets taking the lead versus U.S. for the quarter

NEW YORK , Feb. 19, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The BNY Mellon U.S. Master Trust Universe returned a median +9.37% in the fourth quarter of 2020, continuing the strong quarterly performance results starting in the second quarter of 2020.

The BNY Mellon U.S. Master Trust Universe offers peer comparisons of performance by plan type and size. It consists of 483 corporate, foundation, endowment, public, Taft-Hartley, and health care plans with a total market value of more than $2.4 trillion and an average plan size of over $8.0 billion . In aggregate, U.S. Master Trust Universe plans reported a one-year return of +13.15%, exceeding the 3-year annualized return of +8.66% and the 5-year annualized return of +9.67% respectively.

 

Endowments were the highest performing plan type for the second quarter in a row, benefitting from having the highest allocation to Alternative Assets of any plan type. Corporate plans continued to underperform other plan types due to higher allocations to fixed income investments and lower allocations to alternative investments. The average Corporate Plan allocated 46% of their assets to U.S. Fixed Income and 13% to alternatives while the average plan in the Master Trust Universe allocated 29% of their assets to U.S. Fixed Income and 23% to alternatives.

 

"According to BNY Mellon's Master Trust Universe, non-U.S. equity was the highest performing asset class in the fourth quarter of 2020 while fixed income performance continued to lag. Endowment performance was again supported by high allocations to alternative investments and underweighting of fixed income investments," said Frances Barney , CFA, Head of Global Risk Solutions at BNY Mellon.

 

Additional Q4 Highlights

  • Less than 1% of plans posted negative results during the quarter
  • Endowments saw the highest median return (+10.37%), followed by Public Plans (+10.00%)
  • U.S. equities posted a quarterly median return of +15.09%, versus the Russell 3000 Index return of +14.68%. Non-U.S. equities saw a median return of +17.04%, compared to the FTSE Developed ex U.S. Net Index result of +16.96%. U.S. fixed income had a median return of +1.64%, versus the Barclays Capital U.S. Aggregate Bond Index return of +0.67%. Non-U.S. fixed income had a median return of +8.32%, versus the FTSE World Government Bond Non-US Index return of +4.82%. Real estate had a median return of +1.90%, versus the NCREIF Property Index result of +1.15%.

BNY Mellon U.S. Master Trust Universe users are now able to take advantage of BNY Mellon Asset Strategy View® as a separate service for additional analysis. BNY Mellon Asset Strategy View layers big data analytics onto detailed asset allocation, performance, and cash flow data for the majority of the BNY Mellon U.S. Master Trust Universe. It provides additional insight into underlying market trends and investor activity.

 

 

BNY Mellon U.S. Master Trust Universe Median Plan Returns*

Period Ending December 31, 2020

 

Universe

Number of Participants

4Q 2020

One-Year

Five- Years

Ten-Years

Master Trust Total Fund

483

9.37

13.15

9.67

8.21

     Corporate Plans

199

8.06

14.00

10.23

8.67

     Foundations

65

9.69

11.10

8.94

7.54

     Endowments

68

10.37

12.46

9.20

7.74

     Public Plans

89

10.00

12.01

9.66

8.35

     Taft-Hartley Plans

25

9.24

11.49

8.84

7.66

     Health Care Plans

21

7.47

9.93

8.42

-

   

*

All returns are posted gross of fee results.

 

 

BNY Mellon Asset Allocation Medians of those invested by Asset Class

Period Ending December 31, 2020

 

Asset Class

Q4

 2020

One Year

 Ago

Three Years 

Ago

Five Years 

Ago

US Equity

21.21%

20.50%

23.06%

22.95%

Non-US Equity

11.80%

12.94%

15.90%

15.00%

Global Equity

5.93%

5.60%

5.89%

5.39%

US Fixed Income

21.69%

22.11%

20.83%

21.71%

Global Fixed Income

1.52%

2.31%

2.73%

3.34%

Non-US Fixed Income

1.93%

2.11%

1.92%

2.20%

TIPS/Inflation Linked Bonds

3.59%

3.06%

3.02%

3.76%

Real Estate

4.88%

5.20%

4.96%

5.44%

Private Equity

10.43%

9.08%

7.89%

8.94%

Other Real Assets

1.85%

2.31%

2.50%

3.03%

Hedge Funds

11.86%

11.98%

14.07%

14.88%

Cash

1.34%

1.03%

1.27%

1.56%

 

ABOUT BNY MELLON
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 and wealth management and investment services in 35 countries. As of Dec. 31, 2020 , BNY Mellon had $41.1 trillion in assets under custody and/or administration, and $2.2 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.

 

Barclays Capital U.S. Aggregate Bond Index
© Barclays Bank PLC 2016. This data is provided by Barclays Bank PLC all rights are reserved.

 

FTSE Non-US World Government Bond, FTSE Developed x US Index, Russell 3000 Index:
Source: London Stock Exchange Group plc and its group undertakings (collectively, the "LSE Group"). © LSE Group 2019. FTSE Russell is a trading name of certain of the LSE Group companies. "FTSE®" "Russell®", are trade mark(s) of the relevant LSE Group companies and is/are used by any other LSE Group company under license. All rights in the FTSE Russell indexes or data vest in the relevant LSE Group company which owns the index or the data. Neither LSE Group nor its licensors accept any liability for any errors or omissions in the indexes or data and no party may rely on any indexes or data contained in this communication. No further distribution of data from the LSE Group is permitted without the relevant LSE Group company's express written consent. The LSE Group does not promote, sponsor or endorse the content of this communication.

 

Contact:
Paul Patella
BNY Mellon Asset Servicing
paul.patella@bnymellon.com
+1 212 635 1378

 

SOURCE BNY Mellon

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