Northern Trust: Institutional asset owners post 6% gain in Q2

Institutional asset owners in the Northern Trust universe posted a median gain of 6% in the second quarter, after returning 3.3% in the previous quarter, data released Monday showed.

Continued overall strong performance during the three months ended June 30 was driven in part by the market momentum caused by the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines globally, a news release announcing the data said.

"U.S. equity market returns were driven by climbing U.S. COVID-19 vaccination rates, proposals for massive federal infrastructure spending, and strong returns across the technology sector," said Amy Garrigues, Northern Trust's global head of investment risk and analytical services, in a news release.

"International market data was also encouraging. The Markit eurozone PMI rose to its highest level since 2006, and the European Commission approved an $800 billion COVID-19 recovery package which was well received by European markets. With these combined factors, the Northern Trust Universe saw one of its most impressive quarters within the last decade," she said.

Corporate DB plans performed the best among plan types with a median return of 6.2% for the quarter ended June 30, followed by foundations and endowments at 6% and public defined benefit plans at 5.6%.

For the one, three and five years ended June 30, foundations and endowments in Northern Trust's universe returned an annualized 30.5%, 12% and 11.7%, respectively; public pension funds, 26.4%, 10.9% and 10.9%; and corporate pension plans, 18%, 11.8% and 10.4%.

The Northern Trust universe consists of 377 U.S. institutional funds with combined assets of more than $1.4 trillion.