Wilshire Trust Universe Comparison Service® Reports Strong Third Quarter of 2024 with 5.32% Gross Return

Santa Monica, Calif., November 6, 2024 - Institutional assets tracked by Wilshire Trust Universe Comparison Service® (Wilshire TUCS®) posted an all-plan median gross return of 5.32% for the third quarter and 19.03% for the 12 months ending September 30, 2024. Wilshire TUCS, a cooperative effort between Wilshire and custodial organizations, is widely considered the definitive benchmark for U.S. institutional plan assets performance and allocation.

"A shift in Fed policy toward a gradual decline in interest rates has been supportive of positive sentiment in risk assets, but it will be challenging to facilitate stability in the economy before the pressure of higher labor costs and consumer prices lead to slowing in earnings and consumption, respectively," said Josh Emanuel, CIO of Wilshire. "All plan types underperformed a traditional 60/40 portfolio, while larger plans with smaller allocations to public equities generally underperformed smaller plans, by roughly 90 basis points," Emanuel added.

U.S. equities, represented by the FT Wilshire 5000 Index℠, rose 6.16% in the third quarter and 35.17% for the 12 months ending in September; meanwhile, international equities, represented by the MSCI AC World ex U.S., returned 8.06% in the third quarter and 25.35% for the past year. U.S. bonds, represented by the Wilshire Bond Index℠, rose 5.62% in the third quarter with a gain of 12.93% for the one-year.

Across all plan types, quarterly median gains ranged from 4.27% to 5.72% for large public funds (assets above $5 billion) and small foundations and endowments (assets below $500 million), respectively. One-year median returns ranged from 16.78% to 21.89% for large public funds and small public funds (assets below $1 billion), respectively.

For the quarter, all plan medians underperformed the 60/40 portfolio gain of 6.05%. All plan medians also underperformed the 7.66% gain for the multi-asset Wilshire Risk Parity - 12% Target Volatility Index. Small public funds and small foundations and endowments outperformed all other sizes and plan types in the third quarter due to relatively high allocations to U.S. public equities and bonds. Allocation trends continue to show significant exposure for large foundations and endowments to alternatives, with a median third quarter allocation above 50%. Large corporate and public funds had median third quarter allocations to alternatives of 22.4% and 21.4%, respectively.

For the past 12-months, all large and small plan groups underperformed the 23.38% gain for the 60/40 portfolio and the 23.87% gain for the multi-asset Wilshire Risk Parity - 12% Target Volatility Index. Large plans underperformed small across all plan types for the one-year, due mostly to larger allocations to alternatives.

Large plans (assets above $1 billion) overall posted gains of 4.74% for the quarter and 17.04% for the year ending September 30, 2024; meanwhile small plans (assets less than $1 billion) outperformed large for the quarter and for the year with returns of 5.58% and 19.75%, respectively.

About Wilshire

Wilshire is a leading global financial services firm and trusted partner to a diverse range of approximately 500 leading institutional investors and financial intermediaries. Our clients rely on us to improve investment outcomes for a better future. Wilshire advises on over $1.4 trillion in assets and manages $121 billion in assets as of June 30, 2024. Wilshire is headquartered in the United States with offices worldwide. More information on Wilshire can be found at www.wilshire.com

Wilshire TUCS®

The Wilshire TUCS® Benchmarks reflect the invested universe of the over 450 U.S. fund sponsors and the over $4.9 trillion in assets (U.S.) they represent in the Wilshire TUCS database as of 3/31/2024. Available quarterly, the Wilshire TUCS® has both plan level and portfolio level designations that delineate to which universe they belong. Wilshire TUCS® benchmarks provide performance, allocation and risk quartiles based on the multiple-sponsor, plan type, asset class and asset size universes. Provided in the traditional "blind" quartile break format, these benchmarks reflect Wilshire Associates' recognition of a plan sponsor's desire for anonymity, while also providing a powerful benchmark for the investment manager and advisor firm. Wilshire TUCS data is comprised of plans contributed by the participating custodian bank and is calculated using accounting inputs and computational methods standards. These standards were established to ensure the accuracy and comparability of data in the universe.

Index Definitions

FT Wilshire US 5000 Index - The FT Wilshire US 5000 Index is abroad-based market capitalization-weighted index that aims to capture 100% of the US investible market capitalization.

MSCI ACWI ex USA Index - The MSCI ACWI ex USA Index captures large- and mid-cap representation across developed markets countries (excluding the United States) and emerging markets countries. The index covers approximately 85% of the global equity opportunity set outside the United States.

Wilshire Bond Index℠ - The Wilshire Bond Index℠ measures the performance of the U.S. taxable fixed income market based on actual holdings of U.S. institutional investors. The index includes all U.S. debt securities that are held by institutional investors represented by Wilshire Trust Universe Comparison Service® (TUCS®).

Wilshire Risk Parity Index - 12% Target Volatility - The Wilshire Risk Parity Index - 12% Target Volatility is designed to measure the performance of a multi-asset risk parity strategy that allocates risk equally among three risk baskets: equity, rates and inflation while targeting an ex-ante volatility level of 12%.

Important Information

Wilshire is a global financial services firm providing diverse services to various types of investors and intermediaries. Wilshire's products, services, investment approach and advice may differ between clients and all of Wilshire's products and services may not be available to all clients. For more information regarding Wilshire's services, please see Wilshire's ADV Part 2 available at www.wilshire.com/ADV.

This material is intended for informational purposes only and should not be construed as legal, accounting, tax, investment, or other professional advice. This material contains proprietary information of Wilshire. It may not be disclosed, reproduced, or otherwise distributed, in whole or in part, to any other person or entity without prior written permission from Wilshire.

This material represents the current opinion of Wilshire and is subject to change without notice. Wilshire assumes no duty to update any such opinions. Wilshire believes that the information obtained from third party sources contained herein is reliable, but has not undertaken to verify such information. Wilshire gives no representations or warranties as to the accuracy of such information, and accepts no responsibility or liability (including for indirect, consequential or incidental damages) for any error, omission or inaccuracy in such information and for results obtained from its use.

Wilshire Advisors LLC (Wilshire) is an investment advisor registered with the SEC. Wilshire® is a registered service mark. All other trade names, trademarks, and/or service marks are the property of their respective holders.

Wilshire®, Trust Universe Comparison Service® and TUCS® are registered service marks of Wilshire Advisors LLC, Santa Monica, California.

Copyright © 2024 Wilshire. All rights reserved.

M636891 E0125

‍