Tag Archives: IIS
Defining Paths: The Expanding Landscape of Options-Based Index Strategies
The investment landscape is in a perpetual state of evolution, with market participants continually seeking innovative tools. In recent years, options-based strategies—particularly those delivered through an ETF wrapper—have surged in popularity. Once the domain of institutional investors or structured product users, options-based strategies like covered call and buffered strategies have been democratized. This growth represents…
- Categories Multi-Asset
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- Multi-Asset
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Spot the Difference
From a U.S. equities perspective, the first month of 2026 started on a different trajectory compared to years past. S&P 500® performance trailed much of the rest of the world (as measured by the S&P World Ex-U.S. Index), and within the U.S., the performance of the S&P 500 Information Technology (“U.S. Tech”) ranked in the…
- Categories Equities
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Tech Tantrums
The past week has been turbulent for Big Tech, with disappointing reactions to earnings from Microsoft, Amazon and Alphabet, while Apple and Meta emerged relatively unscathed after announcing their results. Concerns about growing capital expenditures on AI1 among these giants have led to renewed bubble fears among market participants. In an environment characterized by such…
- Categories Equities
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Stocks, Sectors and Success?
The recent market rotation toward small caps and value has also extended toward sectors,1 with Technology, which was one of the top-performing sectors of 2025, turning from a leader into a laggard in January. Meanwhile, cyclical sectors including Energy and Materials have outperformed. But how challenging have the conditions been for sector allocators? Exhibit 1…
- Categories Equities
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Big Tech, Breadth and Balance
U.S. equity markets have been whipsawed in the past few days, with initial optimism surrounding Big Tech earnings powering the S&P 500® to an intraday high, and subsequent disappointing reactions to earnings coupled with the Fed’s decision to hold rates steady leading to a sharp retreat for The 500®. The pullback in Tech and the…
2026 Is the Year of the Stock Picker?
Recent market commentary has declared that 2025 was a brutal year for stock picking, with USD 1 trillion pulled out of active equity mutual funds during the year, according to the Investment Company Institute. The year was characterized by sharp double-digit swings for the S&P 500®, and in such environments filled with bouts of volatility,…
- Categories Equities, S&P 500 & DJIA
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- Equities, S&P 500 & DJIA
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Cautioning the Clairvoyant
December is typically when we hear Wall Street strategists announce their forecasts for the S&P 500® for the year ahead, and this year has been no exception: 2026 forecasts have ranged from a relatively bearish 7,100 from Bank of America to a bullish 8,000 from Deutsche Bank. But how accurate have these forecasts been in…
- Categories Equities, S&P 500 & DJIA
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- Equities, S&P 500 & DJIA
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Rallies, Records and Relentless Restlessness: A Tale of Markets in 2025
As 2025 draws to a close, U.S. large caps boast impressive gains: after a rocky start that saw a 19% drawdown, the S&P 500® is up 18% including dividends, as of Dec. 12, significantly above its annualized total return of 10.8% since inception in 1957. The U.S. bellwether also recorded 37 all-time highs this year….
- Categories Equities
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Factors for All Markets
Recently, much of the financial media has been occupied with discussing the potential of a bubble in markets. Some have compared the current sentiment to the “animal spirits” of the late 1990s.1 Proponents of this view cite stretched valuations, retail-driven speculation and the circularity of transactions as evidence to support their claims. Whether or not…
- Categories Factors
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The S&P USD Select Leveraged Loan Index: A Comprehensive Approach to the Leveraged Loan Market
The S&P USD Select Leveraged Loan Index is a new entrant in the leveraged loan landscape, developed to fill a critical gap in existing liquid leveraged loan index offerings that typically focus on the largest loans by market capitalization. This innovative index encompasses all USD-denominated fully funded term loans with a minimum facility size of…
- Categories Fixed Income
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