WILSHIRE TRUST UNIVERSE COMPARISON SERVICE® REPORTS
FIRST QUARTER INSTITUTIONAL INVESTOR RETURNS GO NEGATIVE
SANTA MONICA, CA, May 7, 2008 – As expected, institutional investors overall saw the rates of return on their portfolios take a more than a five percent drop in the first quarter of 2008. The rates of return varied from a loss of -3.75 percent for non-profits with assets greater than $1 billion to -5.79 percent for Taft Hartley funds with assets greater than $1 billion, according to the Wilshire Trust Universe Comparison Service® (Wilshire TUCS®), a cooperative effort between Wilshire Analytics, the investment technology unit of Wilshire Associates, and custodial organizations. Wilshire TUCS, the most widely accepted benchmark for the performance of institutional assets, includes more than 1,300 plans representing $3.17 trillion in assets.
The median performance of all master trusts for the quarter ended March 31, 2008 was a -5.10 percent with a yearly return of 0.30 percent. The median performance of corporate pension plans was -5.57 percent for the quarter and -0.20 percent for the year while public pension funds median performance was -4.99 percent for the quarter and 0.53 percent for the last four quarters. The first quarter performance for foundations and endowments was -5.32 percent and 0.48 percent for the year. Taft Hartley funds median performance was -4.33 percent for the quarter and 0.65 percent for the year. Non-profits saw a median performance of -5.27 percent in the first quarter and 0.16 percent for the year.
“The performance we saw in the first quarter was expected based on market turmoil globally,” said Hilarie C. Green, CFA, managing director and head of Wilshire Analytics' Performance Reporting division. “Here in the U.S., the equity market suffered its worst quarterly loss since the third quarter of 2002 with the Dow Jones Wilshire 5000SM posting a –9.52% return as the first three months of the year each returned negative results. Combined with November and December of 2007, we’ve seen five consecutive months of market losses,” she added.
TUCS reports the median rates of return and median asset allocation for the time periods ending March 31, 2008, as follows (returns for periods greater than one year are annualized).
| MEDIAN PERFORMANCE |
|
MEDIAN ALLOCATION |
| All Master Trusts |
| One Quarter = -5.10% |
|
Equities = 56.97% |
| One Year = .30% |
|
Bonds = 28.54% |
| Three Years = 7.37% |
|
Cash = 2.38% |
| Five Years = 11.01% |
|
Convertibles = 0.00% |
| |
|
GIC/GAC = 0.00% |
| |
|
Real Estate = 0.00% |
| |
|
Alternative Investments = 0.00% |
| |
|
Other = 0.00% |
| Corporate Funds |
| One Quarter = -5.57% |
|
Equities = 59.67% |
| One Year = -.20% |
|
Bonds = 29.69% |
| Three Years = 7.50% |
|
Cash = 2.63% |
| Five Years = 11.32% |
|
Convertibles = 0.00% |
| |
|
GIC/GAC = 0.00% |
| |
|
Real Estate = 0.00% |
| |
|
Alternative Investments = 0.00% |
| |
|
Other = 0.00% |
| Public Funds |
| One Quarter = -4.99% |
|
Equities = 56.97% |
| One Year = .53% |
|
Bonds = 29.01% |
| Three Years = 7.67% |
|
Cash = 2.81% |
| Five Years = 11.35% |
|
Convertibles = 0.00% |
| |
|
GIC/GAC = 0.00% |
| |
|
Real Estate = 0.22% |
| |
|
Alternative Investments = 0.00% |
| |
|
Other = 0.00% |
| Foundations and Endowments |
| One Quarter = -5.32% |
|
Equities = 61.13% |
| One Year = .48% |
|
Bonds = 18.39% |
| Three Years = 8.40% |
|
Cash = 2.43% |
| Five Years = 12.14% |
|
Convertibles = 0.00% |
| |
|
GIC/GAC = 0.00% |
| |
|
Real Estate = 0.00% |
| |
|
Alternative Investments = 0.00% |
| |
|
Other = 0.00% |
| Taft Hartley Funds |
| One Quarter = -4.33% |
|
Equities = 51.11% |
| One Year = .65% |
|
Bonds = 30.11% |
| Three Years = 6.41% |
|
Cash = 2.24% |
| Five Years = 8.78% |
|
Convertibles = 0.00% |
| |
|
GIC/GAC = 0.00% |
| |
|
Real Estate = 10.35% |
| |
|
Alternative Investments = 0.00% |
| |
|
Other = 0.00% |
| Non-Profit Funds |
| One Quarter = -5.27% |
|
Equities = 59.66% |
| One Year = .16% |
|
Bonds = 24.04% |
| Three Years = 7.62% |
|
Cash = 1.94% |
| Five Years = 11.29% |
|
Convertibles = 0.00% |
| |
|
GIC/GAC = 0.00% |
| |
|
Real Estate = 0.00% |
| |
|
Alternative Investments = 0.00% |
| |
|
Other = 0.00% |
| All Master Trusts with Assets Greater than $1 billion |
| One Quarter = -5.24% |
|
Equities = 57.06% |
| One Year = .87% |
|
Bonds = 26.44% |
| Three Years = 8.51% |
|
Cash = 3.21% |
| Five Years = 12.29% |
|
Convertibles = 0.00% |
| |
|
GIC/GAC = 0.00% |
| |
|
Real Estate = 1.86% |
| |
|
Alternative Investments = 0.00% |
| |
|
Other = 0.00% |
| Corporate Funds with Assets Greater than $1 billion |
| One Quarter = -5.35 |
|
Equities = 57.79% |
| One Year = .51% |
|
Bonds = 28.78% |
| Three Years = 8.51% |
|
Cash = 3.50% |
| Five Years = 12.01% |
|
Convertibles = 0.00% |
| |
|
GIC/GAC = 0.00% |
| |
|
Real Estate 0.55% |
| |
|
Alternative Investments = 0.00% |
| |
|
Other = 0.00% |
| Public Funds with Assets Greater than $1 billion |
| One Quarter = -5.21% |
|
Equities = 56.90% |
| One Year = 1.39% |
|
Bonds = 27.07% |
| Three Years = 8.59% |
|
Cash = 3.30% |
| Five Years = 12.01% |
|
Convertibles = 0.01% |
| |
|
GIC/GAC = 0.00% |
| |
|
Real Estate = 1.31% |
| |
|
Alternative Investments = 0.00% |
| |
|
Other = 0.03% |
| Foundations and Endowments with Assets Greater than $1 billion |
| One Quarter = -3.83% |
|
Equities = 47.10% |
| One Year = 3.10% |
|
Bonds = 19.78% |
| Three Years = 10.66% |
|
Cash = 2.05% |
| Five Years = 13.60% |
|
Convertibles = 0.00% |
| |
|
GIC/GAC = 0.00% |
| |
|
Real Estate = 3.53% |
| |
|
Alternative Investments = 10.96% |
| |
|
Other = 0.26% |
| Taft Hartley Funds with Assets Greater than $1 billion |
| One Quarter = -5.79% |
|
Equities = 60.63% |
| One Year = -1.04% |
|
Bonds = 21.07% |
| Three Years = 7.04% |
|
Cash = 1.93% |
| Five Years = 11.49% |
|
Convertibles = 0.00% |
| |
|
GIC/GAC = 0.00% |
| |
|
Real Estate = 7.54% |
| |
|
Alternative Investments = 4.89% |
| |
|
Other = 0.00% |
| Non-Profits with Assets Greater than $1 billion |
| One Quarter = -3.75% |
|
Equities = 48.30% |
| One Year = 2.87% |
|
Bonds = 18.91% |
| Three Years = 10.66% |
|
Cash = 3.21% |
| Five Years = 14.52% |
|
Convertibles = 0.00% |
| |
|
GIC/GAC = 0.00% |
| |
|
Real Estate = 3.53% |
| |
|
Alternative Investments = 22.96% |
| |
|
Other = 0.00% |
About Wilshire Associates
Wilshire Associates is a leading global investment consulting and services firm with four business units, including, Wilshire Analytics, Wilshire Funds Management, Wilshire Consulting and Wilshire Private Markets. Wilshire Analytics develops and provides superior risk management, portfolio analysis, asset allocation and performance measurement solutions to fund managers, banks, insurers, consultants and other institutional investment organizations around the world.
The firm was founded in 1972, revolutionizing the industry by pioneering the application of investment analytics and research to investment management for the institutional marketplace. Wilshire also is credited with helping to develop the field of quantitative investment analysis that uses mathematical tools to analyze market risks. All other business units evolved from Wilshire's strong analytics foundation. Wilshire developed the index now known as the Dow Jones Wilshire 5000 Composite IndexSM, the first asset/liability models for pension funds, the first U.S. equity style metrics work and many other "firsts" as the firm grew to approximately 350 employees serving the investment needs of institutional and high net worth clients around the world.
Based in Santa Monica, CA, Wilshire provides services to clients in more than 20 countries representing in excess of 600 organizations with assets totaling more than U.S. $12.5 trillion. With ten offices on four continents, Wilshire Associates and its affiliates are dedicated to providing clients with the highest quality counsel, products and services. Trust Universe Comparison Service® and TUCS® are registered service marks of Wilshire Associates Incorporated, Santa Monica, California. Please visit www.wilshire.com for more information.
# # #
