Tag Archives: equities
Shooting Hoops with Michael Jordan: An Allegory
I am not a particularly good athlete, and perhaps the sport at which I am most inept is basketball. Despite that, let’s assume that I somehow challenge Michael Jordan, arguably the best player in the history of the game, to a free throw shooting contest. What are my chances of success? (Stay with me, I…
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Defense and Volatility
As the equity market has waned and waxed in 2022, investor interest has naturally turned toward ways of mitigating portfolio losses. Some factor indices can serve this goal, but investors searching for a defensive strategy need to define their search carefully. It’s natural to think that defensive strategies will be less volatile than the market…
The Power of Style
At some risk of oversimplification, the 16.1% decline in the S&P 500® for the first eight months of 2022 can be divided into three intervals, as the market fell by 20.0% through June, rallied in July, and then resumed its decline in August. This story, of course, is still evolving: for all we now know,…
SPIVA Institutional and the Pharaohs of Finance
Ptolemy I (367 BC-282 BC), one-time companion of Alexander the Great and later pharaoh of Egypt, has an important role in intellectual history. Among other contributions, he is credited with founding the library at Alexandria, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, and for personally sponsoring the work of Euclid, a mathematician whose…
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Defense in the Balance
Balanced portfolios traditionally (and definitionally) hold a mix of stocks and bonds. Stocks have been the better-performing asset over time, but with a level of volatility that many investors find unacceptably high. Although bonds are usually included in a balanced portfolio more as a volatility dampener than a return enhancer, during the bull market in…
S&P U.S. Indices Mid-Year 2022: Analyzing Relative Returns to CRSP
The first half of 2022 saw supply chain disruptions, interest rate hikes amid rising inflation and geopolitical tensions sour sentiment, creating a complex environment for equity markets. The S&P 500® was down 20%, which represented the worst start of the year since 1970. What was the impact on other S&P DJI U.S. equity indices and…
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The S&P Systematic Global Macro Index Outperformed YTD
U.S. equities rebounded in July thanks to earnings from mega-cap technology and major oil companies. The S&P 500® surged 9.2%, posting its best month since November 2020 and reversing its 8.3% loss in June. Nevertheless, the S&P 500 remains in correction territory, down 13.1% from its Jan. 3, 2022, record high. The S&P Systematic Global…
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Infrastructure to Strengthen a Portfolio in Volatile Times
Key Observations: Infrastructure owners and operators provide real asset exposure in inflationary environments Opportunities for yield on infrastructure continue to be relatively strong Infrastructure companies have delivered consistent operating margins over time How can investors power through the rising inflation, low real yields and sluggish profits in today’s volatile markets? The answer may be pure-play…
Time Sensitivity and Volatility Management
We all know that in the long run, the U.S. stock market has performed very well, compounding at well over 10% per year for nearly a century. We also know that sometimes the market performs very poorly, as the S&P 500®’s 20% decline in the first half of 2022 reminds us. For an investor who…
The S&P China 500 Added 2.8% in Q2 2022, as China Equities Held up During a Broad Global Sell-Off
The S&P China 500 bucked the trend of a broad market downturn, posting a 2.8% gain for Q2 2022. In terms of sectors, Consumer Discretionary and Consumer Staples grew nearly 15% each over the quarter, while the Industrials and Energy sectors were also additive to performance. The S&P China 500 outperformed the broader S&P Emerging…
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