Joseph Nelesen
Head of Specialists, Index Investment Strategy, S&P Dow Jones Indices
The Magnificent Seven: A Taxing Question
“The Magnificent Seven” term has transcended its cinematic roots to become the collective moniker for a select group of U.S. mega-cap stocks responsible for over 90% of the S&P 500®’s YTD gains to October’s end. Their stellar performance has, naturally, elevated their valuations. It has also increased their already-hefty collective weight in the equity benchmark….
The Challenge Continues: Results from the SPIVA Latin America Mid-Year 2023 Scorecard
In the history of SPIVA (S&P Indices Versus Active) Scorecards, most active managers have tended to underperform benchmarks most of the time, especially over longer periods. The SPIVA Latin America Mid-Year 2023 Scorecard revealed that active managers produced mixed performance during the first half of 2023. During H1 2023, more than one-half of active managers…
The Risk/Return Tradeoff: Results from the SPIVA South Africa Year-End 2022 Scorecard
The year 2022 was riddled with investment challenges worldwide, as fears of recession, rising inflation and geopolitical uncertainty ranked among a whirlwind of other market pressures. In South Africa, these risks manifested in two notably different halves of the year, with major equity and bond indices ending H1 in negative territory, but then rallying to…
Momentum’s Mystique
I confess some superhero powers underwhelm me (really, Hawkeye, arrows?) or stretch credulity further than Hulk’s hyper-elastic jeans. However, one I can appreciate is Mystique, the shape-shifting mutant who constantly alters her appearance to stay one step ahead. If factors were superheroes, I’d argue the S&P 500® Momentum Index (“Momentum”) and Mystique share commonalities, both…
Tip of the Iceberg: Fixed Income ETFs in Times of Crisis
20 and 15 years after the launches of the first ETFs based on the iBoxx USD Liquid Investment Grade (IG) Index and iBoxx USD Liquid High Yield (HY) Index, respectively, ETFs are increasingly used to trade fixed income without the necessity of transacting individual bonds. The tradability of bond ETFs has been leveraged by a…
The Climb: SPIVA South Africa Mid-Year 2022 Scorecard
A clever (yet ill-fated) character once said, “Chaos is a ladder.” The first half of 2022 was indeed full of chaos in many major markets, including South Africa; our latest SPIVA South Africa Scorecard for the region shows where the rungs were slippery and where active funds were able to climb the fastest. Overall, the…
This Time It Was Easy: SPIVA Canada
Each time SPIVA® results are released, we are naturally asked to explain why a certain portion of active managers underperformed in any given fund category. Sometimes, management strategies and market moves defy simple explanations, but at other times an explanation can be plain as day. For actively managed equity funds in Canada, a recent turn…
These Go to 11: Diversification with S&P 500 Sectors
Many strategies (including passive ones) hold large allocations to Information Technology. A “barbell” approach can mitigate risk from high exposure to one sector by pairing it with another. Do you remember sending your first email? For many, it was likely around the mid-1990s when a “googol” was still 10^100 rather than a verb and the…
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