Thursday, September 10, 2009

A Look Outside of the S&P 500

I have been on the offensive lately. Actively managed mutual funds, which if you have followed what was written here, are taking quite a lot of criticism from the index camp. Attempting to twist their argument in as many directions as possible, refining the debate to include survivor fund rates and using numbers that skew how actively managed funds compare to their inactively managed cohorts.

I argue that the benchmark is wrong. But to get a broader look at how different categories are doing, indexes do provide a good overview of performance. Some actually come very close to doing what actively managed funds attempt in those categories; others do not.

Here is a list of how these categories did through the end of August 31st. Keep in mind, the year-to-date performance of the S&P 500 is 18.2% to the plus side. Do you know where your risk is?

Latin America Stock/62.3%
Diversified Emerging Mkts/47.9%
Pacific/Asia ex-Japan Stk/45.7%
Technology/40.6%
Foreign Small/Mid Growth/34.7%
Bank Loan/33.6%
Foreign Small/Mid Value/33.2%
Europe Stock/32.3%
High Yield Bond/32.2%
Miscellaneous Sector/30.7%
Convertibles/28.7%
Communications/26.4%
Equity Precious Metals/26.4%
Diversified Pacific/Asia/25.7%
Global Real Estate/25.3%
Foreign Large Growth/25.0%
Equity Energy/24.6%
Mid-Cap Blend/24.3%
Mid-Cap Growth/23.9%
Emerging Markets Bond/23.8%
Natural Res/23.7%
Consumer Discretionary/23.4%
Foreign Large Value/22.6%
Financial/22.6%
World Stock/22.5%
High Yield Muni/22.2%
Foreign Large Blend/21.8%
Mid-Cap Value/21.6%
Small Growth/21.1%
Large Growth/21.1%
Target Date 2050+/20.7%
Target Date 2036-2040/19.9%
Target Date 2041-2045/19.5%
Small Value/19.4%
Small Blend/19.2%
Multisector Bond/19.2%
Target Date 2031-2035/19%
Target Date 2026-2030/18.7%
Target Date 2021-2025/18.2%
Large Blend/16.7%
World Allocation/16.5%
Target Date 2016-2020/16.1%
Moderate Allocation/15.6%
Target Date 2011-2015/15.5%
Target Date 2000-2010/15%
Muni Single State Long/14.9%
Large Value/14.5%
Consumer Staples/14.3%
Muni New York Long/14.1%
Muni New Jersey/13.9%
Conservative Allocation/13.8%
Muni National Long/13.5%
Retirement Income/13.3%
Muni California Long/13.1%
Real Estate/13%
Muni Massachusetts/13%
Muni Pennsylvania/12.9%
Industrials/12.6%
Health/12.4%
Muni Minnesota/12%
Japan Stock/11.9%
Long-Term Bond/11.9%
Intermediate-Term Bond/10.6%
World Bond/10.3%
Muni Ohio/9.8%
Muni Single State Interm/9%
Muni National Interm/8.7%
Muni New York Int/Sh/8.6%
Muni California Int/Sh/8.1%
Utilities/7.8%
Short-Term Bond/7.4%
Inflation-Protected Bond/6.9%
Long-Short/6.3%
Ultrashort Bond/6%
Muni Single State Short/4.7%
Muni National Short/4.3%
Intermediate Government/3.7%
Short Government/2.6%
Currency/-1.8%
Long Government/-11.3%
Bear Market/-27.2%

No comments: