Tag Archives: Index Investment Strategy
Cutting Carbon without Changing Course: Net Zero Fixed Income Indices
S&P DJI recently expanded its range of S&P PACT™ Indices (S&P Paris-Aligned & Climate Transition Indices) to go beyond equity to now cover fixed income. Within these indices, the differences between the two asset classes in terms of the balance between cost (tracking error) and reward (sustainability profile) are material and highly thought-provoking. As shown…
- Categories ESG, Fixed Income
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- ESG, Fixed Income
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SPIVA Japan Scorecard 2022: Active Underperformance Despite an Abundance of Opportunities
The inaugural S&P Indices versus Active (SPIVA®) U.S. Scorecard was published in 2002, and has since been extended to Australia, Canada, Europe, India, Japan, Latin America, South Africa and the Middle East & North Africa (MENA), allowing investors to experience the active versus passive debate on a global scale. The SPIVA Japan Scorecard measures the…
- Categories Equities
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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…
- Categories Equities
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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…
- Categories Factors
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Building a Passive Bridge across the Pond
At over 300 years old, the British government bond and stock markets are among the world’s oldest. They are also among the largest globally; ranked by float-adjusted market capitalization, the U.K. gilt market and U.K. stock market are the fourth and third biggest, respectively. The British investment industry has existed for centuries, with the country’s…
- Categories Equities
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Safe Harbors and Silver Linings
As we reflect on this year’s notable market themes, one trend is certain: it has been a tumultuous market characterized by rate hikes and inflation concerns across regions, with significant losses across asset classes. Crypto market performance added to jitters, with the S&P Cryptocurrency LargeCap Index down 66% YTD. Losses throughout the year culminated in…
- Categories Equities, Fixed Income, S&P 500 & DJIA
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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…
- Categories Fixed Income
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Examining Equal Weight
In this tumultuous market characterized by Fed rate hikes, elevated inflation and a strong dollar, mega-cap growth companies have suffered heavy losses, paced by recent “Big Tech” earnings disappointments from Meta, Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon and others. The S&P 500® Top 50 declined by 19% over the past 12 months, underperforming the S&P 500 by 5%….
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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…
- Categories Equities
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Size, Sectors and Skew: Observations from the SPIVA MENA Mid-Year 2022 Scorecard
The semiannual S&P Indices Versus Active (SPIVA®) Scorecards1 measure the performance of actively managed funds against their corresponding benchmarks in various markets around the world. According to the latest SPIVA MENA Mid-Year 2022 Scorecard, the majority of MENA active equity managers outperformed their benchmarks, despite a turbulent second quarter and geopolitical tensions. Performance across the…
- Categories Equities, Fixed Income
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