Plan Sponsors in the Red in Q1/05

Median losses in the first quarter for ERISA and public plans were 1.0% and 0.9%, respectively, according to a press release from the company. Foundations and endowments fared somewhat better, with a quarter of plans posting gains; however, overall, median losses for such funds were 0.3% in Q1.

“This was a pretty erratic quarter as February gains offset January   losses, only to slide again in March, resulting in the down quarter,”  noted JoeNardulli, Product Manager, Northern Trust Investment AnalyticalServices, in the release. “The US equity portion of virtually all plans postednegative performance in a quarter where most style managers struggledversus the style indexes.”

However, over the year preceding the end of the first quarter, the median return for all fund types was still positive. Over this time frame, ERISA plans returned 7.4% at the   median, while public fund plans returned 7.7% and foundation and endowment   plans returned 7.9%.

Over three and five years, the results were similar: the median ERISA plan returned 7.0% over three   years and 2.8% over five years, while public fund plans returned 8.0% and 3.3% and foundation and   endowment plans returned 8.0% and 3.0%.

The Northern Trust Universe represents the performance results of over   300 large institutional investment plans that subscribe to Northern   Trust performance measurement services, with a total asset value of $390 billion.