For fixed-income separate accounts in the PIPER universe, the fourth...

For fixed-income separate accounts in the PIPER universe, the fourth quarter didn’t much resemble the preceding three. While the median long duration fixed-income account led in returns for the year ended Dec. 31, the limited duration median account took the best returns for the final quarter. The median limited duration fixed-income account returned 0.8% in the quarter ended Dec. 31, outperforming other median accounts and the Salomon Smith Barney Broad Investment Grade Bond index, which returned 0.4%. The median account for limited duration fixed-income for the year ended Dec. 31 with just 7%, compared with the index return of 8.7%. The median long duration fixed-income account had the best return for the year with 11.3%, but the worst for fourth quarter with just 0.1%.