Equity mutual funds and ETFs celebrated their fifth quarterly gain in six—with the average equity fund (+6.92%) posting its second straight quarterly plus-side return. LSEG Lipper’s U.S. Diversified Equity Funds (+9.07%) outpaced the other seven equity and mixed-assets macro-classifications for the first quarter since Q2 2023. Q1 2024 had actively managed equity funds (+7.09%) outperform their passive (+5.95%) counterparts by 114 basis points (bps), marking the fourth largest quarterly outperformance by active management since the start of 2013. In this segment, I provide a market recap plus highlight the quarterly and monthly performance results for conventional equity mutual funds

U.S. investors pushed equity funds to their strongest quarterly performance since Q1 2019 as the U.S. labor market remained strong, Q3 earnings reports came in better than expected, and investors remained optimistic over China and U.S. trade negotiations. For Q4 2019, the average equity fund posted a 7.56% return, with Lipper’s World Equity Funds macro-classification (+9.26%) outpacing the other six major equity groups for the first quarter in nine. In this segment, I highlight the Q4, December, and 2019 performance results for equity mutual funds and ETFs. Summary: For Q4 2019, equity funds (+7.56% on average) posted a plus-side return

The move from active to passive investing has been a secular theme for many years, and it has disrupted the asset management industry. As active fund managers face increasing pressure to outperform their benchmarks, the hunt for alpha is becoming a more difficult exercise. Some asset managers prefer to use quantitative investing techniques to construct portfolios and use machines to identify how the portfolio should behave in all facets. This can include how new investment ideas are generated, how much should be bought or sold and when changes to the portfolio should occur. This type of investing has coined the

As the UK plans on exiting the European Union on March 29, 2019 (at 11pm GMT for those interested), a lot has changed since the initial Brexit vote. We looked at how the markets reacted immediately after Brexit and decided to check in again one year before the inevitable deadline. This report gives a picture as to how industry analysts view UK equities and which industries are seeing the most positive and negative sentiment. Equity valuation levels are also analyzed on an aggregate basis to see how undervalued or overvalued the UK market is relative to its peers. Where’s the

Earlier this week, the UK opened up bidding for the latest chunk of airwaves that will host the next generation of wireless technology – 5G. There has been much anticipation of 5G and how it will revolutionize society by offering a network that will be 10x faster and provide more consistent coverage compared to 4G (where speeds may decline outside major metropolitan areas). By providing a network capable of handling our ever-growing data consumption habits, 5G will look to deliver on the promise of the Internet of Things (IOT) –autonomous driving, wearable technology, virtual reality, smart homes, buildings, factories, and

Equity markets around the globe are off to a flying start in 2018 with all major indices on the plus side and many at all-time highs. When comparing this year’s start vs. 2017, most indicators have either achieved the same performance YTD or have significantly outperformed, as noted below. Exhibit 1: 2018 YTD Performance vs. 2017  2017 YTD 2018 YTD S&P 500 1.27% 6.28% Dow Jones Industrial 0.29% 6.13% STOXX 50 -0.44% 4.87% FTSE MIB 0.73% 9.38% IBEX 35 -0.16% 5.86% OMX 30 -0.83% 4.23% Nikkei 225 -1.17% 5.97% Shanghai CSI 300 1.63% 8.73% S&P BSE Sensex 1.86% 6.13% Note

The history of roll-ups is a checkered one. Roll-up is the colloquial term given by investors to a company that consolidates an industry by a large number of acquisitions, rolling them up under a parent company. According to a September 2008 Harvard Business Review article authored by Paul Carroll and Chunka Mui, more than two-thirds of roll-ups have failed to create any value for investors. Let’s analyze a current example. Steinhoff International Holdings NV, a Dutch public company listed in both Johannesburg (SNHJ.J) and Frankfurt (SNHG.DE), has assembled a collection of 40 brands in 30 countries —  UK-based discount retailer

Cheap financing and low gasoline prices seem to have kicked car sales into high gear. This is benefiting most of the auto supply chain. Lear Corp. (LEA.N) is a major integrated supplier of seating components to car manufacturers. It also has a smaller electrical segment that has car makers as its customers. Let’s see what trends are in the driver’s seat.