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What Rising Rates Won’t Do

Large Cap Funds: Active Versus Passive

Rising Dispersion and the Value of Stock Picking

Concentration Consternation

A Game of Thrones Using ETFs

What Rising Rates Won’t Do

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Fei Mei Chan

Former Director, Core Product Management

S&P Dow Jones Indices

Here is a dramatic chart:

what rising rates won't do1

It provides a complete history of the trajectory of interest rates over the last sixty years—and also the backdrop for why there’s so much ado about rates today.  It also explains the consensus sentiment that there is only one direction for interest rates to head. We have no desire to enter the pervasive discourse around the timing and pace of the expected rise in interest rates.   But we can suggest three important things that will not happen when interest rates do rise.

First, rising rates won’t foretell the direction of the stock market, as the next chart illustrates.

what rising rates won't do2

Conventional wisdom is that rising interest rates are bad for equities. But in the last 25 years, the presumed relationship between equity performance and interest rates has been severely challenged.

Second, rising rates won’t foretell whether stock market dispersion will widen.  Dispersion is a measure of the degree to which the components of an index perform similarly.  If the components are tightly bunched, dispersion will be low and, other things equal, active managers will be challenged to add value by stock selection.

what rising rates won't do3

Dispersion rose in July, and may continue to do so.  But as the historical data show, there is no reliable relationship between changes in dispersion and changes in interest rates.

Finally, rising rates won’t foretell the performance of factor indices.  We examined several pairs of nominally opposite factor indices (e.g., growth vs. value, low volatility vs. high beta, etc.).  In no case is there reliable evidence that interest rate changes have an impact on the relative performance of factor indices.   The chart below highlights this for the S&P 500 Low Volatility and High Beta Indices.

what rising rates won't do4

There will no doubt be many economic and market effects attributed to the rise in interest rates, when it comes.  This trifecta serves as a good reminder that analyzing the behavior of the equity market involves more than just the Fed’s decrees.

The posts on this blog are opinions, not advice. Please read our Disclaimers.

Large Cap Funds: Active Versus Passive

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Todd Rosenbluth

Director of ETF and Mutual Fund Research

S&P Capital IQ Equity Research

In the first half of 2015, investors pulled $22 billion out of large-cap core U.S. equity mutual funds, but added $19 billion to S&P 500® Index-linked mutual funds. While this confirms that active management is losing share to passive, we think there are still strong active large-cap mutual funds to choose from.

According to S&P Dow Jones Indices, just 23% of all large-cap core active funds outperformed the S&P 500 Index in the three-year period ended 2014. (It is not possible to invest directly in an index, and index returns do not reflect expenses an investor would pay). On an equal-weighted basis, the average large-cap fund’s 18.6% three-year annualized return lagged the S&P 500 index by approximately 180 basis points. These performance challenges are not rare, as just twice in the past ten calendar years more than 50% of actively managed funds have beaten the “500”. A separate S&P Dow Jones study revealed how hard it is for those large-cap funds that outperformed to continue to do so. Indeed, just 4.5% of the outperformers in the 12-month period ended March 2011 maintained their top-half ranking in each of the four subsequent 12-month periods.

The S&P Dow Jones Indices studies highlight that you would be better off with an index-based large-cap offering than choosing an average active fund. In fact there are many below-average performers. For example, Davis New York Venture Fund (NYVTX) is among the biggest large-cap core funds, yet it lagged peers in four of the five last five calendar years. Indeed, NYVTX and its sister share classes had $2.8 billion of outflows in the first half of 2015.

Of course, nobody aims to invest in a below-average mutual fund.

S&P Capital IQ’s mutual fund rankings incorporate holdings-based analysis as well as a review of a fund’s relative track record and cost factors. We find 30 large-cap funds meet our criteria, though some of multiple share classes of the same portfolio.

The list of funds included American Century Equity Growth Fund (BEQGX), Fidelity Fund (FFIDX) and T Rowe Price Growth & Income Fund (PRGIX), Vanguard Growth & Income Fund (VNQPX).

S&P Capital IQ hosted a client webinar on active versus passive strategies on Tuesday, August 4, but you can listen to a replay http://t.co/4KDPwLW9Aj or email wealth@spcapitaliq.com. Reports on the aforementioned mutual funds and ETFs can be found on MarketScope Advisor.

Please follow me @ToddSPCAPIQ to keep up with the latest ETF Trends

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The views and opinions of any contributor not an employee of S&P Dow Jones Indices are his/her own and do not necessarily represent the views or opinions of S&P Dow Jones Indices or any of its affiliates.  Information from third party contributors is presented as provided and has not been edited.  S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and its affiliates make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, regarding the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability or availability of such information, including any products and services described herein, for any purpose.

The posts on this blog are opinions, not advice. Please read our Disclaimers.

Rising Dispersion and the Value of Stock Picking

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Craig Lazzara

Former Managing Director, Index Investment Strategy

S&P Dow Jones Indices

The U.S. equity market’s dispersion rose substantially in July, ending the month at 7.3%, well above June 30’s 4.5%.  Dispersion for the S&P MidCap 400® and S&P SmallCap 600® likewise rose in July, and the component correlation of all three indices declined.  This is not surprising in a month dominated by individual earnings announcements.  Lower correlation means there’s less tendency for stocks to move together, and higher dispersion means that the gap between the winners and the losers grows — more or less what we’d expect when company, rather than macroeconomic, news is most important.

We’ve long argued that the market’s low dispersion in 2014 was a major contributor to the failure of most active managers to outperform their index benchmarks.  So if dispersion remains high, other things equal, active stock pickers might benefit.  But there are at least three cautions to offer before concluding that the long-sought “stock-picker’s market” has finally arrived.

First, dispersion might not stay high.  July’s upward move is impressive, to be sure, but in January 2015, S&P 500® dispersion rose from 4.2% to 6.7%, a move almost as large as July’s.  Dispersion fell in the next two months, so that by the end of March, it was back to its year-end level.  One month, in other words, does not a high dispersion regime make.

Second, the percentage of active managers who outperform their benchmarks does not depend on the level of dispersion.  Dispersion is a pre-cost measure, so if dispersion rises relative to its 2014 level, more managers may be able to earn enough incremental return to cover their trading and research costs and generate positive alpha for their clients.  But this is a marginal effect.  As our SPIVA research has consistently demonstrated, most active managers underperform most of the time.  If dispersion rises, successful stock pickers will earn more, and unsuccessful stock pickers will lose more.

Finally, rising dispersion will have predictable effects on the performance of some factor indices.  For example, if winners keep winning and losers keep losing, that’s a recipe for increased dispersion.  In such an environment, momentum indices (which buy winners and shun losers) will tend to do well, and equal weight indices (which do the opposite) will tend to underperform.  (In July, in fact, the S&P 500 Momentum Index outperformed its equal weight counterpart.)  Through July 31, the cap-weighted S&P 500 outperformed equal weight (3.35% vs. 1.69%).  Rising dispersion might cause that gap to widen.

An equal weight index measures the return of the average index component.  When equal weight is outperforming cap weight (as it typically does), stock picking is relatively easy — in fact a randomly-chosen portfolio should outperform the cap-weighted index.  When cap weight outperforms, stock picking is much harder.  (Some active managers recoil in horror at the memory of the late 1990s, when the cap-weighted S&P 500 outperformed equal weight for six consecutive years.)  If cap weight continues to outperform equal weight, stock selection will continue to be challenged, regardless of dispersion’s level.

The posts on this blog are opinions, not advice. Please read our Disclaimers.

Concentration Consternation

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Chris Bennett

Former Director, Index Investment Strategy

S&P Dow Jones Indices

“There are 3 kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.”- Mark Twain

Earlier this week, The Wall Street Journal pointed out that a mere six stocks (Amazon, Google, Apple, Facebook, Gilead, and Disney) had accounted for more than 100% of the S&P 500’s year-to-date gains.  This degree of concentration (reminding some of the peak of the 1990s’ technology bubble) is said to raise “concerns about the health of the market’s advance.”  While the article’s arithmetic was correct, its concerns may be misplaced.

We don’t have to look back to the tech bubble to see a similar concentration of index returns: During 2011, 4 stocks (Exxon, Apple, IBM, and Pfizer) accounted for more than 100% of the total return of the S&P 500. This did not “presage a pullback,” however, as the S&P 500 followed with 3 straight years of double-digit gains.  What was similar about 2011 and 2015 through July 27 (the date of the Journal’s analysis)?  Aggregate returns were de minimis.  In 2011, the S&P 500 gained 2% on a total return basis (and was flat on a price return basis). The total return of the S&P 500 in 2015 was less than 2% through July 27.  In both periods, the return of the index was relatively low, making it easy for a small group of strong stocks to account for more than 100% of total performance.

Following a few positive trading days, incidentally, “The Only Six Stocks That Matter” now account for only half of the S&P 500’s year to date total return.  As of July 29, it would take 22 stocks to account for 100% of the market’s return.

Just as the concentration of performance doesn’t lead to reliable conclusions about the market’s future absolute return, it also tells us little about the relative performance of active managers vs. their passive benchmarks.  Active managers tend to underperform both when index returns are heavily concentrated among a few stocks and when returns are more widely distributed.  In 2011, when four stocks accounted for 100% of the market’s return, 81% of large cap U.S. funds lagged the S&P 500.  2014 was quite a different year in terms of returns and individual stock contributions to index returns: the S&P 500 ended the year up 14% and it required 176 stocks to account for the market’s total return.  Yet active managers did not prosper in these conditions either, as 86% of large cap funds failed to outperform the S&P 500.

While it makes for an exciting headline, concentration is no cause for consternation.

The posts on this blog are opinions, not advice. Please read our Disclaimers.

A Game of Thrones Using ETFs

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Michael Mell

Global Head of Custom Indices

S&P Dow Jones Indices

As hedge funds arguably best embody the spirit of active management you know it’s a watershed moment when “exchange-traded funds, which are the primary vehicle for passive management, now have assets under management greater than hedge funds, according to a count from research firm ETFGI.”  Industry-wide, it has been observed that “growth in ETF assets continues to outpace assets under management (AuM) expansion in the wider asset management industry.”  So while the active versus passive debate is often positioned as on-going, one could argue that it’s over (or ending very soon).  Passive has won (or is winning).  The game of thrones is over; house passive sits triumphant on the iron throne.

Thus one would think that we have arrived at a moment where believers in passive investing should celebrate.  Not unlike the legions of undead preparing to attack the wall a rude awakening is upon us.  A bifurcation is occurring in the ETF industry, and it has a direct impact on the passive versus active debate, because to date, ETFs have been the primary vehicle for executing a passive strategy.  “In early November 2014, the SEC approved another version of non-transparent active investment product called exchange-traded managed funds (ETMFs). The SEC approval of ETMFs and potentially other requests for non-transparent active ETFs could lead to another phase of growth and innovation for ETFs in the U.S.”  So while the index based ETF industry has been growing and fueling victory for the passive vs. active debate “traditional fund providers are taking action, creating ETF teams of their own as a precursor for potential future launches.” In other words, in the future hordes of active mutual fund companies may raise their dying products from the dead in the body of “ETFs”.

With active ETFs, ETMFs, and “ETFs” tracking indices by providers you’ve never heard of and “ETFs” with indices calculated by smaller players who may or may not be here tomorrow, it’s getting scary out there for anyone seeking to gain some type of reliable beta exposure.  On the other hand, “the vast majority (approximately 99%) of U.S. ETF assets are currently in passively managed index products. Active ETFs accumulated approximately $16 billion assets under management (AUM) between 2008 and mid-2014.”  So breathe easy right?  No because winter is coming, change is upon us.  However as I referenced in an earlier blog, there is a way to know if your ETF is truly passive and it will be more important than ever to use that formulaic approach to see what’s actually under the hood of an “ETF”.

 

The posts on this blog are opinions, not advice. Please read our Disclaimers.