Wilshire Trust Universe Comparison Service® Reports Strong First Quarter of 2023 with 4.14% Return

Santa Monica, Calif., May 30, 2023 – Institutional assets tracked by Wilshire Trust Universe Comparison Service® (Wilshire TUCS®) posted an all-plan median return of 4.14% for the first quarter and -4.89% for the year ending March 31, 2023. 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.

“Although economic growth slowed in the first quarter, the U.S. economy was somewhat buoyed by a very strong labor market and resilient personal consumption,” said Jason Schwarz, President of Wilshire. “All plan types underperformed a traditional 60/40portfolio, while smaller plans with higher allocations to public markets outperformed larger plans by nearly 50 basis points,” Schwarz added.

U.S. equities, represented by the FT Wilshire 5000 Index℠, rose 7.26% in the first quarter and fell -8.65%for the 12 months ending in March; meanwhile, international equities, represented by the MSCI AC World ex U.S., rose 6.87% in the first quarter and fell -5.07%for the past year. U.S. bonds, represented by the Wilshire Bond Index℠, rose 3.63%in the first quarter and fell -4.54% for the one-year.

Across all plan types, quarterly median gains ranged from 3.28% to 4.83% for small foundation and endowment funds (assets below $500 million) and small public funds (assets below $1 billion), respectively.  One-year median returns ranged from -3.67% to -5.47% for large public funds (assets above $5 billion) and large corporate funds (assets above $1 billion), respectively.

For the quarter, all plan medians underperformed the 60/40 portfolio gain of 5.56%. All plan medians also underperformed the 8.66% gain for the multi-asset Wilshire Risk Parity – 12% Target Volatility Index. Small public funds outperformed all other sizes and plan types in the first 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 first quarter allocation above 50%. Large corporate and public funds had median first quarter allocations to alternatives of 25.0% and 21.6% respectively.

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For the year, large and small plan groups outperformed the -6.14% loss for the 60/40 portfolio along with the-9.97% loss for the multi-asset Wilshire Risk Parity – 12% Target Volatility Index. Large plans matched or outperformed small across all plan types for the one-year.

Large plans (assets above $1 billion) overall posted gains of 3.91% for the quarter and a loss of -4.69% for the year ending March 31, 2023; meanwhile small plans (assets less than $1 billion) outperformed large for the quarter but trailed for the year with returns of 4.36% and -4.97%, respectively.

About Wilshire

Wilshire is a global provider of market-leading indexes, advanced analytics, and multi-asset investment solutions. A trusted partner toa diverse range of more than 500 leading institutional investors and financial intermediaries, our clients rely on us to improve investment outcomes for a better future. Wilshire advises on over $1.3 trillion in assets and manages $83 billion in assets and is headquartered in the United States with offices worldwide.

More information on Wilshire can be found at www.wilshire.com.

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