U.S. mid-cap equities – as represented by the S&P MidCap 400 – outperformed both their larger and smaller counterparts since the early 1990s. In decomposing relative returns, sector analysis can be useful to understand the drivers of performance. For example, the S&P MidCap 400’s underweight position in Information Technology at the start of the 21st Read more […]
S&P Dow Jones Indices’ recent paper “The S&P MidCap 400®: Outperformance and Potential Applications” shows that mid-cap stocks have often been overlooked in favor of other size ranges in investment practice and in academic literature. This is despite the fact that the S&P MidCap 400 has outperformed the S&P 500® and the S&P SmallCap 600® Read more […]
After four consecutive months of gains by the S&P 500®, the U.S. equity market broadly declined in May. The S&P 500, S&P MidCap 400®, and S&P SmallCap 600® declined 6.6%, 8.1%, and 8.9%, respectively. The primary catalyst was the renewed trade tension between the U.S. and China, which reversed course from the optimism coming out Read more […]
The S&P 500® was up 3.93% in April, marking the fourth consecutive month of gains. The YTD gain of 17.51% was the best since 1987 and the fifth-best in the entire history of the index. The index set a new all-time high in April, surpassing the previous high close from Sept. 20, 2018. This completed Read more […]
The S&P 500 finished Q1 2019 up 13.07%. This was the best first quarter return since the 13.53% posted in Q1 1998. January’s 7.87% return was the best start to the year since 1987 (13.18%). The hot start cooled some with the 10th-best February since 1987, at 2.97%. In March, the upward momentum slowed further, Read more […]
Contrary to the myth that active managers tend to fare better than their benchmarks during volatile markets, 68.83% of domestic equity funds lagged the S&P Composite 1500® during the one-year period ending Dec. 31, 2018, making 2018 the fourth-worst year for active U.S. equity managers since 2001 (see Exhibit 1). Evidence from the SPIVA U.S. Read more […]
Recently, a number of reports highlighted a surge in popularity for actively managed U.S. equity funds in 2019. The main explanation for this trend appears to be the volatility observed in the final few months of 2018: market participants seem to believe active managers are better able to navigate more volatile markets. However, the data Read more […]
Style investing as an investment approach has long been utilized by market participants to group securities based on their common characteristics and risk/return drivers. Those common characteristics, in turn, help investors make strategic and tactical asset allocation decisions. The first-generation S&P U.S. Style Indices serve as effective underlying tools for market participants seeking a passive Read more […]
In the first seven trading days of 2019, the S&P 500 returned 3.6%, its 12th best start on record since 1928 and best since 2003. Also, the S&P MidCap 400 and S&P SmallCap 600 surpassed large caps by posting their best gains ever to start a year. Lastly, more than half the segments by sector, size Read more […]
The entire U.S, equity market lost on Monday, Dec. 17, 2018, meaning every one of the 42 segments by size, sector and style finished negative for the day. This was the second day in a row with losses across the board. From Oct. 10-11, 2018 was the last time two consecutive days with all losses Read more […]
