Equity Funds Post Their First Quarterly Decline in Four for Q3 2023

Continued hawkish tones by Federal Reserve officials, rising interest rates, and climbing oil prices weighed on investors and pushed equity mutual funds and ETFs to their first quarterly loss in four—with the average equity fund posting a 3.68% decline in Q3.

For the quarter, LSEG Lipper’s Commodities Funds macro-classification (+2.99%) outpaced the other six major equity groups for the first quarter in six. Alternative Equity Funds (+1.04%) took the runner-up position for the quarter, followed by Mixed-Assets Funds (-3.17%), U.S. Diversified Equity (USDE) Funds (-3.87%), Sector Equity Funds (-4.01%), World Equity Funds (-4.40%), and World Sector Equity Funds (-5.70%).

For the quarter, only 14 of Lipper’s 104 equity and mixed-assets fund classifications posted positive returns. In total, 8.39% of all individual equity and mixed-assets funds posted plus-side returns for the quarter.

In this segment, I highlight the third quarter 2023 and September performance results for conventional equity mutual funds and ETFs.

Summary:

• For Q3 2023, equity funds (-3.68% on average) posted their first quarterly loss in four.
• Lipper’s Commodities Funds macro-classification (+2.99%) outpaced the other six broad-based equity groups, followed by Alternative Equity Funds (+1.04%) and Mixed-Assets Funds (-3.17%).
• Natural Resources Funds (+11.99%) posted the strongest return in the equity universe for Q3.
• Alternative Energy Funds chalked up the largest losses in the equity universe, declining 16.02% for the quarter.
• For September, the average equity fund declined 4.16%.

Click here or the Download Full Report link in the upper right-hand column of this page to download the Third Quarter 2023 Equity FundMarket Insight Report: Equity Funds Post Their First Quarterly Decline in Four for Q3 2023.