Median Total Master Trust Posts Fourth Consecutive Positive Return in Q1 2021 According to BNY Mellon U.S. Master Trust Universe

NEW YORK, May 19, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The BNY Mellon U.S. Master Trust Universe returned a median +2.48% in the first quarter of 2021, continuing the streak of positive 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 489 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 +30.15%, exceeding the 3-year annualized return of +9.69% and the 5-year annualized return of +9.95% respectively.

Endowments were the highest performing plan type for the third quarter in a row, benefitting from having the lowest allocation to Fixed Income of any plan type. Corporate plans continued to underperform other plan types due to higher allocations to fixed income investments. On average, Endowments allocated 11% of assets to Fixed Income while the Corporate Plan allocated 48% of assets to Fixed Income. Additionally, the average plan in the Master Trust Universe allocated 30% of their assets to Fixed Income.

"According to BNY Mellon's Master Trust Universe, U.S. equity was the highest performing asset class in the first quarter of 2021 while fixed income performance turned negative globally.  Endowment performance was supported by lower allocations to both U.S. and Non-U.S. Fixed Income versus other plan types," said Frances Barney, CFA, Head of Global Risk Solutions at BNY Mellon.

Additional Q1 Highlights

• Less than 28% of plans posted negative results during the quarter
• Endowments saw the highest median return (+4.65%), followed by Foundations (+3.44%)
• U.S. equities posted a quarterly median return of +6.60%, versus the Russell 3000 Index return of +6.35%. Non-U.S. equities saw a median return of +3.84%, compared to the FTSE Developed ex U.S. Net Index result of +3.98%. U.S. fixed income had a median return of -2.79%, versus the Barclays Capital U.S. Aggregate Bond Index return of -3.37%. Non-U.S. fixed income had a median return of -3.65%, versus the FTSE World Government Bond Non-US Index return of -6.42%. Real estate had a median return of +2.23%, versus the NCREIF Property Index result of +1.72%.

BNY Mellon U.S. Master Trust Universe users are now able to take advantage of BNY Mellon Asset Strategy View^SM 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 March 31, 2021

Universe	Number of Participants	1Q 2021	One- Year	Five- Years	Ten- Years
Master Trust Total Fund	489	2.48	30.15	9.95	8.08
Corporate Plans	202	(0.80)	23.79	9.57	8.20
Foundations	66	3.44	31.80	9.50	7.52
Endowments	69	4.65	32.74	10.25	7.87
Public Plans	87	3.43	32.47	10.14	8.29
Taft-Hartley Plans	26	2.83	30.76	9.25	7.57
Health Care Plans	21	1.87	23.83	8.60	6.81

*All returns are posted gross of fee results.

BNY Mellon Asset Allocation Medians of those invested by Asset Class
Period Ending March 31, 2021

Asset Class	1Q 2021	One Year Ago	Three Years Ago	Five Years Ago
US Equity	21.36%	18.35%	22.20%	21.95%
Non-US Equity	11.74%	11.18%	15.71%	15.07%
Global Equity	6.50%	5.04%	5.61%	5.29%
US Fixed Income	20.16%	24.28%	20.04%	22.20%
Global Fixed Income	1.54%	2.34%	3.00%	3.37%
Non-US Fixed Income	1.61%	2.03%	2.04%	2.41%
TIPS/Inflation Linked Bonds	2.53%	3.39%	3.20%	3.75%
Real Estate	5.11%	5.61%	5.18%	5.56%
Private Equity	11.52%	10.46%	8.26%	8.81%
Other Real Assets	1.96%	2.30%	2.70%	2.79%
Hedge Funds	12.50%	12.62%	12.73%	14.44%
Cash	1.26%	1.51%	1.24%	1.51%

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 March 31, 2021, BNY Mellon had $41.7 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: Erin Smith
BNY Mellon
erin.smith@bnymellon.com
+1 212 815 7170

 

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SOURCE BNY Mellon