The median plan in the BNY Mellon U.S. Master Trust Universe returned -4.87% for the second quarter, ending four consecutive quarters of positive returns.
Year to date, the median plan returned -1.35%; but for the 12 months ended June 30, the return was 13.23%.
Health-care plans had the best returns for the quarter, at -3.4%, followed by endowments, -4.54%; foundations, -4.84%; corporate plans, -4.91%; Taft-Hartley plans, -5.03%; and public plans, -5.59%.
U.S. fixed income was the top-performing asset class for the quarter, with a median return of 3.25%. That return was below the Barclays Capital U.S. Aggregate Bond index return of 3.49%.
The universe's average asset allocation for the quarter was 31% U.S. equity, 31% U.S. fixed income, 15% non-U.S. equity, 10% alternative investments, 8% other, 2% each for real estate and non-U.S. fixed income and 1% cash.
“Equity markets certainly lost ground in the second quarter,” Greg Stewart, managing director and regional product manager of BNY Mellon Asset Servicing, said in a telephone interview. “The European debt crisis and some concerns about the resiliency around the global recovery impacted those returns.”
