WILSHIRE TRUST UNIVERSE COMPARISON SERVICE® REPORTS INSTITUTIONAL RETURNS DOWN SHARPLY IN THIRD QUARTER
Foundations and Endowments Hit Hardest
SANTA MONICA, Calif., November 6, 2008 – Hit hard by roiling markets globally,
institutional investors saw the performance of their portfolios drop sharply in the third quarter of
2008 with foundations and endowments having the worst median quarterly performance of -9.37
percent and Taft Hartley funds with assets greater than $1 billion reporting the worst one-year
median return at -15.45 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 nearly 1,200 plans
representing $2.85 trillion in assets.
The median performance of all master trusts for the year ended September 30, 2008 was -13.79
percent with a quarterly return of –8.05 percent. The median performance of corporate pension
plans was -15.44 percent for the year and -8.53 percent for the quarter while public pension
funds median performance was –14.43 percent for the year and -8.17 percent for the third
quarter. The one-year median performance for foundations and endowments was -14.88 percent
while the quarterly media return for Taft Hartley funds was -5.82 percent with the one-year at
-11.45 percent.
The median rates of return for all master trusts and public pension plans with assets greater than
$5 billion were identical at -14.88 percent for the year with public plans reporting median
quarterly performance -8.89 percent and all master trusts doing slightly worse with a median
quarterly return of -8.95 percent.
"There were few investment categories immune from the effects of the worldwide market
turmoil of the third quarter, so even large plans with the most diversified portfolios saw their
performance negatively impacted in a way we haven't seen since the third quarter of 2002," said
Hilarie C. Green, CFA, managing director and head of Wilshire Analytics' Performance
Reporting division. "In fact, the larger plans under-performed their broad universe peers in all
sponsor-specific universes except the Endowment and Foundation universe where the larger
plans continued their better relative performance for both the quarter and the one-year periods,"
she noted.
Click here for this quarters Wilshire TUCS® Universe median rates of return and median asset allocation.
About Wilshire Associates
Wilshire Associates is a leading global investment technology, investment consulting and investment management firm with four business units: Wilshire Analytics, Wilshire Funds Management, Wilshire Consulting, 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 index now known as the Dow Jones Wilshire 5000 Composite 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 nearly 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 assets totaling more than $12.5 trillion. 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 Trust Universe Comparison Service® and Wilshire TUCS® are registered trademarks of Wilshire Associates Incorporated. Please visit www.wilshire.com for more information.
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