Median Total Master Trust Return Continues Positive Streak in Q3 2020 According to BNY Mellon U.S. Master Trust Universe

PR Newswire

NEW YORK, Nov. 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The BNY Mellon U.S. Master Trust Universe returned a median +4.92% in the third quarter of 2020, building on the strong quarterly performance from the second quarter.

The BNY Mellon U.S. Master Trust Universe offers peer comparisons of performance by plan type and size. It consists of 457 corporate, foundation, endowment, public, Taft-Hartley, and health care plans with a total market value of more than $2.1 trillion and an average plan size of over $7.0 billion. In aggregate, U.S. Master Trust Universe plans reported a one-year return of +8.10%, exceeding the 3-year annualized return of +6.70% and trailing the 5-year annualized return of +8.20% respectively.

Endowments were the highest performing plan type for the quarter, benefitting from having the highest allocation to Alternative Assets of any plan type. Corporate plans underperformed other plan types; their allocation to U.S. fixed income investments was the highest of all plan types. While U.S. Fixed Income was the lowest performing asset class, all plan types returned to positive performance year-to-date.

"According to BNY Mellon's Asset Strategy View, U.S. equity was the highest performing asset class in the third quarter of 2020 while fixed income performance lagged. Endowment performance was supported by the rebound in alternative asset performance from the second quarter as well as an asset allocation underweight of 20% in U.S. Fixed Income versus other plan types," said Frances Barney, CFA, Head of Global Risk Solutions at BNY Mellon.

Additional Q3 Highlights

Less than 1% of plans posted negative results during the quarter
Endowments saw the highest median return (+5.66%), followed by Public Plans (+5.34%)
U.S. equities posted a quarterly median return of +8.05%, versus the Russell 3000 Index return of +9.21%. Non-U.S. equities saw a median return of +6.77%, compared to the FTSE Developed ex U.S. Net Index result of +5.49%. U.S. fixed income had a median return of +1.50%, versus the Barclays Capital U.S. Aggregate Bond Index return of +0.62%. Non-U.S. fixed income had a median return of +3.16%, versus the FTSE World Government Bond Non-US Index return of +4.59%. Real estate had a median return of +0.28%, versus the NCREIF Property Index result of +0.74%.

BNY Mellon U.S. Master Trust Universe users are now able to take advantage of BNY Mellon Asset Strategy View^® as a separate service for additional analysis. BNY Mellon Asset Strategy View layers big data analytics onto detailed asset allocation, performance, and cash flow data for the majority of the BNY Mellon U.S. Master Trust Universe. It provides additional insight into underlying market trends and investor activity.

BNY Mellon U.S. Master Trust Universe Median Plan Returns*
Period Ending September 30, 2020

Universe	Number of Participants	3Q 2020	One- Year	Five- Years	Ten- Years
Master Trust Total Fund	457	4.92	8.10	8.20	7.83
Corporate Plans	188	4.03	9.18	8.96	8.40
Foundations	65	5.27	6.49	7.44	7.17
Endowments	62	5.66	6.84	7.40	7.27
Public Plans	87	5.34	7.08	8.14	7.95
Taft-Hartley Plans	23	4.79	6.96	7.46	7.32
Health Care Plans	15	2.72	5.84	7.33	-

*All returns are posted gross of fee results.

BNY Mellon Asset Allocation Medians of those invested by Asset Class
Period Ending September 30, 2020

Asset Class	Q3 2020	One Year Ago	Three Years Ago	Five Years Ago
US Equity	20.28%	19.77%	22.57%	21.98%
Non-US Equity	10.95%	12.82%	16.23%	14.52%
Global Equity	5.30%	5.59%	6.12%	5.04%
US Fixed Income	22.82%	23.32%	21.27%	22.57%
Global Fixed Income	1.65%	2.42%	3.04%	3.71%
Non-US Fixed Income	1.95%	2.05%	1.92%	1.93%
TIPS/Inflation Linked Bonds	3.58%	3.35%	2.98%	3.74%
Real Estate	5.33%	5.35%	4.85%	5.46%
Private Equity	10.58%	9.32%	8.23%	9.25%
Other Real Assets	2.15%	2.24%	2.65%	3.33%
Hedge Funds	12.01%	12.93%	14.28%	15.26%
Cash	1.24%	1.19%	1.16%	1.60%

ABOUT BNY MELLON

BNY Mellon is a global investments company dedicated to helping its clients manage and service their financial assets throughout the investment lifecycle. Whether providing financial services for institutions, corporations or individual investors, BNY Mellon delivers informed investment and wealth management and investment services in 35 countries. As of Sept. 30, 2020, BNY Mellon had $38.6 trillion in assets under custody and/or administration, and $2.0 trillion in assets under management. BNY Mellon can act as a single point of contact for clients looking to create, trade, hold, manage, service, distribute or restructure investments. BNY Mellon is the corporate brand of The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation (NYSE: BK). Additional information is available on www.bnymellon.com. Follow us on Twitter @BNYMellon or visit our newsroom at www.bnymellon.com/newsroom for the latest company news.

Barclays Capital U.S. Aggregate Bond Index

FTSE Non-US World Government Bond, FTSE Developed x US Index, Russell 3000 Index:

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