Institutional Plan Returns See First Negative Quarter in Nearly Three Years

Institutional assets tracked by the Wilshire Trust Universe Comparison Service (Wilshire TUCS) saw a median return of -0.47% for all plan types in the first quarter and a median one-year gain of 9.51%.

“This quarter marked the first negative quarter since third quarter of 2015,” says Jason Schwarz, president, Wilshire Analytics and Wilshire Funds Management. “Returns for the quarter pulled the one-year return of 9.51% for the year ending March 31, 2018, down from 14.72% for the year ending December 31, 2017.”

Wilshire TUCS first quarter returns were weighed down by losses across all major asset classes. The Wilshire 5000 Total Market Index returned -0.76% for the first quarter and 13.69% for the year ending March 31, 2018, while the MSCI AC World ex U.S. for international equities fell -1.18% in the first quarter, but gained 16.53% for the year. The Wilshire Bond Index also fell -1.82% in the first quarter, but gained 1.63% for the year.

This translated to median returns with a low of -0.95% for Corporate Funds with assets greater than $1 billion and high of 1.57% for Foundations and Endowments with assets greater than $500 million. One-year returns ran the gamut from a low median return of 6.55% for Taft Hartley Health and Welfare Funds to a median high of 12.02% for Foundations and Endowments with assets greater than $500 million.

“In first quarter, median returns for all plan types outperformed the 60/40 portfolio, which returned -1.18%,” notes Schwarz.

Among all Corporate Funds, the quarterly median return was -0.78%. Public funds returned -0.23%, while Foundations and Endowments posted a median quarterly return of -0.37%. Taft Hartley Defined Benefit Plans saw a quarterly return of -0.34%, and Taft Hartley Health and Welfare Funds saw a quarterly return of -0.25%.