Nov 23, 2020

Is South Korea Crowding Your Emerging Markets Allocation?

Key to evaluating core international equity benchmarks is an understanding of the country exposures offered. Developed and emerging market country classification differences between index providers may lead to notable geographic exposure differences across market segments. One of the most meaningful instances of this involves South Korea, which S&P DJI has classified as a developed market…

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Nov 23, 2020

Why Now for ESG?

In a recent webinar I moderated, Brie Williams of State Street Global Advisors joined me to discuss how environmental, social, and governance (ESG) data and investing are now at an important turning point. During that webinar, we answered some advisor questions. I encourage you to watch this replay if you missed it. We ran out…

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  • Categories
  • ESG
Nov 20, 2020

The Market Is Up, But So Is Volatility

So far, 2020 has brought us a global pandemic, a coordinated global economic shutdown, and, in the U.S., a notably contentious election. So it’s no surprise that volatility has been, and remains, elevated. Despite all this, equities have fared reasonably (some would say surprisingly) well, with the S&P 500® climbing 13% through Nov. 19 since…

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Nov 19, 2020

Core ESG Indexing Is Engaged to Drive Change

I define core ESG indexing as the use of indices designed to apply environmental, social, and governance (ESG) screening and ESG scores to recognized and sometimes iconic indices like the S&P 500®, S&P/ASX 200, or S&P/TSX Composite. These headline indices become actionable components of asset allocation when a fund or separately managed accounts (SMA) provider…

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  • ESG
Nov 18, 2020

Record Participation in the CSA Powers the DJSI into Its Third Decade

In 2020, the 21st rebalancing of the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices (DJSJ) occurred; however, this is the first time it has taken place solely under the umbrella of S&P Global (after S&P Global’s  acquisition of RobecoSAM’s ESG Ratings business in January 2020). It also marked a new step forward toward greater transparency and insight, as…

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  • ESG
Nov 18, 2020

SPIVA® Latin America Mid-Year 2020 Scorecard: Convergence to Underperformance

We recently published our industry-famous SPIVA report for the Latin America region. SPIVA, which stands for S&P Indices Versus Active, analyzes the performance of actively managed mutual funds against their respective category benchmark. In the case of Latin America, S&P Dow Jones Indices began publishing the scorecard in 2014, covering Brazil, Chile, and Mexico. The…

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Nov 17, 2020

ESG – All the Rage!

It appears that environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investing is “all the rage”—not only in the Asia Pacific region but all around the world. At S&P DJI, we have spent a lot of time and effort thinking through how best to construct indices that consider ESG values. One of our more recent innovations has been…

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  • Categories
  • ESG
Nov 17, 2020

Tesla Added to the S&P 500

Yesterday, S&P Dow Jones Indices announced that Tesla will be added to the S&P 500® prior to the open on Monday, Dec. 21, 2020. The Index Committee has not yet determined which current constituent Tesla will replace, nor how Tesla will be added to the index—because of its size, S&P DJI is seeking feedback through…

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Nov 17, 2020

Where Do You See Yourself in Five Years? China Stocks Up ahead of Their Latest Five-Year Plan

When discussing global economic recoveries, China is usually at the forefront of the conversation. As of Nov. 16, 2020, metal commodities with an industrial focus were the outperformers YTD. China is the world’s top industrial metal destination. Exhibit 1 shows the top 10 performing commodities tracked by S&P DJI. Seven metal commodities made it to…

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Nov 16, 2020

Motions of the Market

The S&P 500® rose by 10% in the 12 months ending on Oct. 31, 2020, trouncing the S&P 500 Equal Weight Index by 9.1%, as seen in Exhibit 1. While such outperformance is not unprecedented, it does remind us of previous market peaks (especially in December 1999), and raises questions about whether a reversal may…

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