The median large-cap growth manager returned -4.5%, outperforming its value-oriented counterpart by 770 basis points for the first quarter, according to a Mercer survey.
For bonds, the median core fixed-income manager returned 0.6%, beating the Barclays Capital U.S. Aggregate index by 50 basis points for the same period.
Mercer’s Summary Performance of U.S. Institutional Portfolios survey showed that the median corporate plan returned -6.5% for the quarter, while public plans returned -6.2%, and foundations and endowments returned -5.6%. For the year, corporate plans lost 26.2%, public plans lost 27%, and foundations and endowments lost 26.6%. Ten-year annualized returns for the three categories ranged from 2.6% to 3.2%, according to the survey.
In U.S. equities, median large-cap core investments returned -10.1%, outperforming the S&P 500 by 90 basis points for the quarter; the annualized 10-year return was -0.9%, which outperformed the S&P 500 by 210 basis points for the same time period. Median large-cap core outperformed small-cap core by 350 basis points in the quarter.
In international equities, the median growth manager returned -10.2% for the quarter, outperforming median value managers by 290 basis points, according to the survey.
The median global REIT manager returned -20.7%, beating the FTSE EPRA/NAREIT Global Real Estate index by 140 basis points. The median U.S. REIT manager returned -30.7% for the quarter.
In bonds, the median opportunistic manager returned 1.1% for the quarter, outperforming the Barclays Capital U.S. Aggregate index by 100 basis points. It outperformed the benchmark by 590 basis points for a one-year basis, according to the survey.
The median international fixed income manager returned -5.4% for the quarter, and the median global manager returned -3.6%.
