UN Pension Fund Earns 2.42% in May, up 3.29% Year to Date

After a slow start to the second quarter, the United Nations Joint Staff Pension Fund’s investment portfolio earned 2.42% in May alone and returned 3.29% in the year’s first five months to raise the fund’s total asset value to just over $91 billion, according to the UNJSPF’s latest investment report.

The pension fund’s monthly performance was led by its public equity investments, which for May returned 4.09% and increased 8.57% for the year through May 31, despite gaining only 0.51% during April and May combined.

Fixed-income investments returned 1.7% in May but were down 1.57% for the first five months of the year. Real estate investments gained 0.2% for the month but were down 1.17% for the year to May 31, while the real asset portfolio was flat last month, remaining 1.45% higher year to date.

Private equity investments eked out a 0.09% gain during the month and edged 0.36% higher over the first five months of 2024. Treasuries and operational cash returned 0.57% in May, while investment cash increased 0.49%. Both were up, 2.34% and 2.26% respectively, for the year to May 31.

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The pension fund’s asset allocation, as of the end of May, was 43.4% public equity, 37.47% total fixed income, 8.48% private equity, 7.63% real estate, 2.35% investment cash, 0.43% real assets, and 0.25% Treasuries and operational cash.

As of the end of April, the pension fund had a one-year return of 8.1%, falling short of its benchmark’s 9.0% return, and a three-year annualized return of 1.5%, just ahead of its benchmark’s return of 1.3%. Over the past five, 10 and 15 years, the pension fund reported annualized returns of 6.1%, 5.8% and 7.7%, respectively, on par with its benchmark’s returns of 6.0%, 5.9% and 7.8%, respectively, over the same time periods, each as of April 30.