U.S. institutional investment plans experienced negative returns in the third quarter of 2023 due to global equity market declines. The median return for institutional asset owners in the Northern Trust All Funds Over $100 million plan universe was -2.2%. The Northern Trust Universe tracks the performance of 398 large U.S. institutional investment plans with a combined asset value of over $1.3 trillion. The Northern Trust Foundation and Endowment (F&E) universe had a -1.1% median return, the Northern Trust Public Funds universe had a -1.7% median return, and the Northern Trust Corporate (ERISA) universe had a -5.1% median return. U.S. equity returns declined during the quarter, likely due to investor concerns about the U.S. economy's response to the Federal Reserve's rate increases. The U.S. Equity Program universe had a -3.3% median return, with large cap stocks outperforming small cap stocks. The U.S. Fixed Income program universe had a -2.9% median return, driven by climbing government bond yields. The F&E universe had one-, three-, and five-year returns of 9.9%, 6.9%, and 6.2% respectively, and increased allocations to private equity. The Public Funds universe had one-, three-, and five-year returns of 9.1%, 5.6%, and 5.2% respectively, with allocations to U.S. and international equity. The ERISA plan universe had one-, three-, and five-year returns of 5.1%, -1.2%, and 2.7% respectively, with a large allocation to U.S. fixed income. Northern Trust Corporation is a leading provider of wealth management, asset servicing, asset management, and banking services. [680074ce]
U.S.-listed exchange-traded funds (ETFs) managed by Ark Investment Management have wiped out a total of $14.3 billion in shareholder value over the 10 years ended Dec. 31, 2023, according to a report by Morningstar Inc. Ark's flagship fund, the ARK Innovation ETF, accounted for most of those losses. The fund's assets have fallen from $11.8 billion two years ago to $7.8 billion today. It had a gain of 152.82% in 2020, but posted losses of 26.38% in 2021 and 66.97% in 2022. The ProShares UltraPro Short QQQ ETF topped the list of individual funds responsible for wiping out shareholder value, losing $8.5 billion in the 10-year period. [e071e614]
According to a recent episode of Animal Spirits, a podcast by The Irrelevant Investor, several topics were discussed. These included 30 years of financial market returns, the sinking performance of Cathie Wood's ARK funds, the impact of rising home prices and higher stocks on young Americans, Vanguard's report on how America saves, the strong labor market, the troubles of the US economy as the number one global economy, the issue of underconsumption in China, the rapid increase in home prices in certain US cities, the expected increase in housing prices due to the actions of the Federal Reserve, concerns of older adults about retirement and financial stability, Apple's production and sales issues with its Vision Pro headset, the need for a low-end iPhone for revenue growth, and various tweets and posts from different sources. The article also includes disclaimers and disclosures regarding investment advice and endorsements. [8e9345d7]