MutualFunds.com provides a snapshot of the performance of some key mutual funds and ETFs, trying to capture investor interest in specific areas of the financial markets. The report is aimed at providing a quick overview of the sectors, regions and asset classes that moved in a meaningful manner in the last 30 days. In addition, the report also highlights some of the key economic indicators for major geographies, reminding you to adjust your portfolios if required.
MutualFunds.com generates this report every fortnight. In order to select the mutual funds and ETFs highlighted in this report, MutualFunds.com uses a system to automatically scan through hundreds of relevant securities within different sectors, regions and asset classes. The system only picks up the best and worst performing securities for further manual analysis.
Performance Scorecard
Check out best and worst performers across different sectors, geographies and assset claases.
| Category | Monthly Performance | Mutual Funds | ETFs | 1-month Ret (%) |
| Sector | With oil prices reaching multi-year highs, energy and natural gas funds have outperformed over the past month. Meanwhile, cannabis funds and listed private equities have underperformed. | RSNYX: Victory Global Energy Transition Fund | 15.93% | |
| HBGHX: Hartford Healthcare HLS Fund | -12.04% | |||
| BOIL: ProShares Ultra Bloomberg Natural Gas | 46.74% | |||
| PEX: ProShares Global Listed Private Equity ETF | -25.00% | |||
| U.S. Broad | U.S. small-caps have posted a stronger performance than their large-cap counterparts. | VISGX: Vanguard Small Cap Growth Index Fund | 2.51% | |
| FLCPX: Fidelity® SAI U.S. Large Cap Index Fund | -9.63% | |||
| PSCE: Invesco S&P SmallCap Energy ETF | 15.86% | |||
| FMK: First Trust Mega Cap AlphaDEX® Fund | -18.18% | |||
| Fixed Inc | U.S. Treasuries have registered an impressive performance, while corporate bonds experienced negative returns. | DLDZX: Destinations Low Duration Fixed Income Fund | 1.71% | |
| PSLDX: PIMCO StocksPLUS® Long Duration Fund | -9.61% | |||
| ITE: SPDR® Portfolio Intermediate Term Treasury ETF | 30.00% | |||
| IPE: SPDR® Portfolio TIPS ETF | -10.85% | |||
| Alts | Commodity and master limited partnership (MLP) strategies were among the most sought-after assets, while cryptocurrencies have been lambasted. | FSNGX: Fidelity® Select Natural Gas Portfolio | 11.80% | |
| SKRRX: DWS Enhanced Commodity Strategy Fund | -26.99% | |||
| BOIL: ProShares Ultra Bloomberg Natural Gas | 46.74% | |||
| ETCG: Grayscale Ethereum Classic Trust (ETC) | -22.48% | |||
| Foreign | Chinese energy stocks and oil- and gas-rich Russia have been the best performers from the pack in the last 30 days. At the same time, Brazil and Turkey saw high negative returns. | WAINX: Wasatch Emerging India Fund® | 10.72% | |
| PPUAX: PIMCO StocksPLUS® Intl (Unhedged) A | -12.13% | |||
| CHIE: Global X MSCI China Energy ETF | 16.57% | |||
| UBR: ProShares Ultra MSCI Brazil Capped | -14.85% |
Fund performance data for the period between August 26, 2021 and September 24, 2021.
Key Economic Indicators
Check out our quick take on the key economic indicators across North America, Europe and Asia.
| Economic Indicators | Comments |
| Monetary Policy | U.S. inflation has slowed down in August. The consumer price index, the main inflation gauge, advanced 5.3% compared to the same period last year, below expectations of 5.4%. Core CPI, which excludes volatile food and energy items, was up 4%. Accelerating inflation has stoked fears that the Federal Reserve will be forced to increase interest rates sooner rather than later, which could hurt stocks. Indeed, the Fed itself has now signaled it intends to take the U.S. economy off emergency support gradually by the end of the year. A slowdown in inflation gives the Fed more leeway, including to keep buying assets for longer. On the other hand, UK inflation rose 3.2% in August, beating expectations of 2.9% growth. Inflation was 2% in the prior month. Inflation could continue to rise as the UK is facing an unprecedented gasoline shortage at pumps due to the lack of lorry drivers. Some of the rise might be due to base effects, as the country's program in the same period last year to encourage consumers to eat out artificially depressed prices in cafes and restaurants. |
| Consumer Spending | U.S. retail sales surprised to the upside, even though analysts had expected a downward slide as consumers stop receiving money from the government to cope with the coronavirus pandemic. In August, retail sales advanced 0.7%, beating expectations of a 0.7% decline. Core retail sales, which excludes automobiles, were even better at 1.8% growth. Crude oil stockpiles in the U.S. have fallen for the seventh consecutive week, and have been largely declining in 2021. The strong demand and dwindling stockpiles have taken a toll on oil prices, which are now hovering near a three-year high. If oil prices continue to rise, pressure on the consumer and prices will mount, likely forcing the Federal Reserve's hand. |
| Employment | U.S. unemployment claims have come slightly below expectations in the past two weeks, but the overall numbers show the recovery in the labor market remains resilient. For the week ending September 17, 351,000 unemployment applications have been filed, lower than analysts' expectations of 322,000. |
| Manufacturing Sector | Europe's manufacturing purchasing managers' index declined from 61.4 to 58.7 in September, the weakest reading since February 2021. While still in expansion territory, the decline in manufacturers' sentiment points to growing concerns over supply bottlenecks, lack of labor, and the ongoing effects of the coronavirus pandemic. |
We provide this report on a fortnightly basis. To stay up to date with mutual fund market events, come back to our news page here.