Wilshire Trust Universe Comparison Service® Reports Only Positive Quarter of 2022 With 5.59% Return

SANTA MONICA, Calif., February 16, 2023 – Institutional assets tracked by Wilshire Trust Universe Comparison Service® (Wilshire TUCS®) posted an all-plan median return of 5.59% for the fourth quarter and -13.40% for the year ending December 31, 2022. Wilshire TUCS, a cooperative effort between Wilshire and custodial organizations, is widely considered the definitive benchmark for U.S. institutional plan assets performance and allocation.

“The final quarter of 2022 saw an improvement in investor sentiment as the market priced in moderation in the pace of Federal Reserve rate hikes,” said Jason Schwarz, President of Wilshire. “All plan types under performed a traditional 60/40 portfolio, while smaller plans with higher allocations to public markets outperformed larger plans by nearly 200 basis points,” Schwarz added.

U.S. equities, represented by the FT Wilshire 5000 Index℠, rose 7.10% in the fourth quarter and fell -19.04% for the 12 months ending in December; meanwhile, international equities, represented by the MSCI AC World ex U.S., rose 14.29% in the fourth quarter and fell -16.00% for the year. U.S. bonds, represented by the Wilshire Bond Index℠, rose 2.42% in the fourth quarter and fell-13.49% for the year.

Across all plan types, quarterly median gains ranged from 3.12% to 6.64% for large corporate funds (assets above $1 billion) and small foundation and endowment funds (assets below $500 million), respectively.  One-year median returns ranged from -6.05% to -14.41% for large foundation and endowment funds (assets above $500 million) and small corporate funds, respectively.

For the quarter, all plan medians underperformed the 60/40 portfolio gain of 6.64%. All plan medians, however, outperformed the 3.94% gain for the multi-asset Wilshire Risk Parity – 12% Target Volatility Index. Small foundation and endowment funds outperformed all other sizes and plan types in the fourth quarter due mostly to a larger exposure to public equities. Allocation trends continue to show significant exposure for large foundations and endowments to alternatives, with a median fourth quarter allocation above 50%. Large corporate and public funds had median fourth quarter allocations to alternatives of 29.1% and 24.3% respectively.

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