The Takaichi Trade: How Dispersion Shaped Japanese Active Funds’ Fortunes
Amid a strong year for global equities in 2025, the latest SPIVA® Japan Scorecard showed that most active funds in Japan struggled to outperform their assigned benchmarks. An interesting finding in the report was the striking difference in relative performance between actively managed Japanese Large-Cap funds and Japanese Mid-/Small-Cap funds. Just 49% of Japanese Large-Cap…
Unicorns at the Gate: How Mega IPOs Could Reshape Global and Thematic Indices
Big unicorns are outside the door waiting to join the public markets party. Recently, it has been reported that SpaceX,1 OpenAI2 and Anthropic3 are preparing for their initial public offering (IPO) in the near future. This has drawn attention not just for the size of these firms but for the impact they would have on…
Digging into the Divide in Global Financials
Since the beginning of 2025, the global Financials sector has experienced a significant shift. For several years, across the developed world, the sector had been sailing in roughly the same direction, though generally the U.S. at a higher rate of knots. In 2025, market winds blew the S&P 500 Financials (Sector) and the S&P World…
S&P/ASX Sustainability Screened Dividend Opportunities Index: 2025 Performance Review
The S&P/ASX Sustainability Screened Dividend Opportunities Index delivered a standout performance in 2025, establishing itself as the best performer among all the S&P Factor Indices in the Australian equity landscape. The index posted a robust calendar year return of 21.22%, outpacing the S&P/ASX 300 by 10.9% (see Exhibit 1). In addition to its recent outperformance,…
The Drone Identity: Beyond Defense
The idea of unmanned flying machines has existed in human imagination for millennia. However, drones as we know them today only became a practical reality in the late 20th century with systems such as the Predator drone that was developed in the 1990s. Drone technology has evolved rapidly from its early military origins. Currently, drones…
The Dow Jones Dividend 100 Indices Shine in a Strong Start to the Year
As market volatility continues in the U.S., the Dow Jones U.S. Dividend 100 Index and Dow Jones International Dividend 100 Index have emerged as standout performers. Year-to-date (YTD) as of Feb. 28, 2026, both indices have posted double-digit gains (see Exhibit 1). Notably, the Dow Jones U.S. Dividend 100 Index has outperformed its benchmark universe by 14.81%…
Why Do U.S. Equities and the S&P 500 Matter in South Korea?
S&P DJI’s Sue Lee examines the importance of the S&P 500 in the global equity opportunity set, key diversification and sector composition differences between notable U.S. equity and Korean benchmarks and the challenges faced by active managers in the U.S. and South Korea to outperform this iconic index.
Unveiling the Dow Jones Japan Select Dividend Index
Japanese dividend payouts are meaningfully higher in cash terms than they were a decade ago, bringing Japan more in line with other developed markets. Importantly, dividend growth is now increasingly anchored in formal dividend policy. This shift matters for market participants seeking both yield and exposure to Japanese equity markets by setting expectations around dividend…
Introducing a Low-Carbon Solution: The S&P 500 CTB Base+ Index
Climate-focused institutional investors face the challenge of reducing carbon exposure while maintaining broad market representation and the ability to closely track the performance of the underlying market. The S&P 500® CTB Base+ Index offers a practical solution that can be used to measure the performance of constituents from the underlying index that meet specific climate…
Tracking Next Gen Factors across Economic Regimes
Why does index methodology matter when evaluating the next generation of factor solutions? S&P DJI’s Elizabeth Bebb and Xtrackers’ Sturmius Schneider explore the metrics powering the next generation of S&P 500 factor indices and how these new tools are helping inform market participants applying factors strategically and tactically.
