Balanced pooled funds in the United Kingdom posted a median return of 2% in the first quarter, the eighth consecutive quarter of positive returns, according to a study by Russell/Mellon Europe Ltd. Active U.K. equity managers finished the quarter with a median 3.1%, just ahead of the FTSE All-Share index at 3%. U.K. small-cap stocks returned 5.8% for the first quarter, with U.K. midcaps at 3.3% and U.K. large-cap equities at 2.9%.
"A typical pooled balanced fund would now be worth around 94% of its asset value at the start of 2000," Daniel Hall, publications and statistics manager at Russell/Mellon, said in a statement. He noted that in the first quarter, pension funds continued to recoup some of the losses they suffered early in the decade.
