Over the past decade the S&P 500 has seen a total return of 252.2% (12/31/09 through 12/17/19), which translates to a compound annual total return rate of 13.5%. Over that time two new sectors were added to the index. The real estate sector was separated from the financials sector and the communication services sector was created by removing the telecommunications services sector and pulling constituents from the information technology and consumer discretionary sectors. The information technology sector posted the greatest compound annual total return of 17.3%. Within the sector, the software & services (17.8%) and semiconductors & semiconductor equipment (17.3%)

Women are underrepresented on S&P 500 boards. The average Board Gender Diversity Percentage for the S&P 500 is 24.0%, which is up from 15.3% eight fiscal years ago. The lower chart shows that at this trajectory, parity is projected to be reached in 2030. Within the S&P 500, the retailing (29.0%) and consumer services (27.7%) industry groups have the highest average representation, while the commercial & professional services (18.9%) and semiconductors & semiconductor equipment (18.9%) industry groups have the lowest. Board Gender Diversity Percentage (BGDP) is one of the over 400 environmental, social, and governance (ESG) component metrics that Refinitiv

The second quarter of 2018’s earnings season is coming to a close. Now that 96% of the S&P 500’s companies have reported 18Q2 earnings, the index is expected to post the largest second quarter year-on-year (YoY) earnings gains since 10Q2. As the season comes to a close, retailer earnings continue to impress. Exhibit 1: S&P 500 YoY Growth Rates Source: I/B/E/S data, Proprietary Research The S&P 500 has seen 79.5% of companies report 18Q2 earnings above expectations. This is the highest rate of outperformance on record, going back to 1994 Q1. As a result, 18Q2 YoY earnings expectations have risen