(By Balachander) A report showed global uncertainty drove the median return of the BNY Mellon U.S. Master Trust Universe - a fund-level tracking service - to negative in the second quarter, the first time since the third quarter of 2011.
The median plan was a negative 1.47 percent for the three-month period, though it remained up 1.26 percent for the twelve months ended June 30, financial services company BNY Mellon reported.
"All segments of the BNY Mellon Master Trust Universe were in the red for the second quarter as distress in the Euro zone largely plagued results for the period," said John Houser, vice president and manager of performance & risk analytics for BNY Mellon.
Houser said global equity markets tumbled in April and May, and U.S. markets fared only slightly better as the upcoming 'fiscal cliff' weighed heavily.
Fixed income posted solid results, but the near-term outlook for bonds remains cloudy. Real estate continued its momentum with a 2.45 percent return, marking 10 straight quarters of positive performance for that asset class, Houser added.
BNY Mellon is the corporate brand of The Bank of New York Mellon Corp. (NYSE:BK). BNY Mellon U.S. Master Trust Universe can be used to make peer comparisons of both performance and asset allocation results. The Universe consists of more than 700 corporate, foundation, endowment, public, Taft-Hartley and health care plans.
The average asset allocation in the BNY Mellon U.S. Master Trust Universe for the second quarter was: U.S. fixed income 29 percent, U.S. equity 28 percent, non-U.S. equity 16 percent, non-U.S. fixed income 2 percent, real estate 2 percent, cash 1 percent, and alternatives/other 22 percent.