FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT:
Kim Shepherd
+1-773-252-9986
kshepherd.ext@wilshire.com
LARGEST INSTITUTIONAL INVESTORS SEE BEST THIRD QUARTER PERFORMANCE ACCORDING TO THE
WILSHIRE TRUST UNIVERSE COMPARISON SERVICE®
Trusts and Public Funds with Assets Greater than $5 Billion
See Median Return of Nearly 12 Percent
SANTA MONICA, Calif., November 9, 2009 - The largest institutional investors racked
up the best median returns during the third quarter of 2009 with master trusts with assets
greater than $5 billion and public funds with more than $5 billion both seeing median returns
of 11.88 percent for the quarter. For the year ended September 30, 2009, corporate funds fared
the best with a 2.08 percent median return followed by corporate plans with greater than
$1 billion in assets tallying a median return of 1.61 percent, 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 approximately 1,100 plans representing $2.25 trillion in assets.
"Once again plan size was a big determinant of return for the quarter with Master Trusts with more than
$5 billion returning 11.88 percent, Master Trusts with more than $1 billion returning 11.35 percent and
those with less than $1 billion returning 9.99 percent," said Hilarie C. Green, CFA, managing director
and head of Wilshire Analytics' Performance Reporting division. "Interestingly, over longer time periods
and market cycles, the 'size effect' evens out resulting in similar returns for the ten-year period ending
September 2009 of 4.35 percent, 4.49 percent, and 4.28 percent, respectively."
Taft Hartley funds continued to languish in negative territory for the one-year period with all Taft Hartley
plans tallying a median return of -1.01 percent while with those with more than $1 billion in assets saw a
-0.92 percent median return. Foundations and endowments with assets of more than $1 billion had an annual
median return of 1.28 percent followed closely by all foundations and endowment and all public funds coming
in at one-year median returns of 1.27 percent. Public funds with more than $5 billion, all master trusts
with assets topping $5 billion and public funds with greater than $1 billion all had one-year median returns of 0.51 percent.
The United States stock market, as represented by the Wilshire 5000 Total Market IndexSM
rallied strongly in the third quarter, climbing 16.12 percent to extend its rally since the March 9, 2009 recent low to
60.62 percent. The market value gain for the third quarter was approximately $1.7 trillion. The Wilshire Global Total
Market IndexSM saw a quarterly gain of 18.24 percent while the Wilshire Global exUS IndexSM
was up 19.59 percent during the third quarter.
"A review of the Wilshire TUCS Style Analysis shows us that both the Wilshire TUCS Equity Style and Wilshire Fixed Style
Analyses showed a great range of returns between styles for the September quarter. The equity portfolios ranged from
14.00 percent for Large Growth to 22.61 percent for Small Value and the fixed income portfolios ranged from 1.41 percent
for Short Term to 11.11 percent for High Yield," Green concluded.
Click here for this quarter's Wilshire TUCS
® Universe median rates of return and median asset allocation.
About Wilshire Associates
Wilshire Associates, a leading global, independent investment consulting and services firm,
provides consulting services, analytics solutions and customized investment products to plan
sponsors, investment managers and financial intermediaries. Its business units include,
Wilshire Analytics, Wilshire Consulting, Wilshire Funds Management and Wilshire Private Markets.
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 Wilshire 5000
Total Market 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, California, Wilshire provides services to clients in more than 20
countries representing approximately 600 organizations. With ten offices on four continents,
Wilshire Associates and its affiliates are dedicated to providing clients with the highest
quality counsel, products and services. Wilshire is a registered service mark of Wilshire
Associates Incorporated. Please visit www.wilshire.com for more information.
# # #
