Investing April 29, 2004

International Investment Managers Up in Q1

April 29, 2004 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - International investment managers, buoyed by the rising tide of international equity markets, produced a median portfolio return of 4.5% in the first quarter of 2004.
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The 4.5% median EAFE Plus manager return bested the MSCI EAFE index return of 4.3%, with manager returns ranging from 1.7% to 8.0%. Also up for the first three months of the year was the median global emerging markets manager return at 9.4%, which fell short of the 9.7% return of the MSCI EMF index, according to data from the InterSec Research Corp. a subsidiary of State Street Corporation.

Across international investment returns, stock selection in Japan continued to be the number one determinant of median manager results.  The median manager returned 14.0% in Japan, which was below the MSCI Japan index return of 15.1%.  An underweight to the Japan marketplace also hurt active returns as that market outperformed the total benchmark index. 

Emerging market allocations, which are generally allowed in EAFE Plus mandates up to 15%, also contributed to managers outperforming the index as emerging markets were up 9.7% for the first quarter.

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