Investing July 26, 2004

ICC: Institutional Portfolios Give Back 0.1% in Q2

July 26, 2004 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - Institutional investors, including corporate and public pension funds, as measured by the median master trust, lost 0.1% in the second quarter.
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Declining bond markets during the second quarter hampered institutional portfolios.   While the median US equity portfolio was up 1.4%, the median US bond portfolio sustained a loss of 2.1%, according to data aggregated by the Independent Consultants Cooperative (ICC).

Also hurting investment portfolios in the second quarter was international equity exposure. The median international developed markets equity portfolio lost 0.3% for the quarter, while the median portfolio invested in emerging market equity registered a loss of 8.6% in the three-month period. The median international bond portfolio lost 3.3%.

At the end of the second quarter the median overall equity exposure for plans in the universe was 61.6%. The median commitment to international equities was 10.2%.

For the previous 12-month period ended June 30, however, the indicator is decidedly higher.   The median US equity portfolio has gained 22.7% during the previous year and the US bond portfolio is up 1.2%.

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