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 | The energy sector had a strong start to the year, outperforming other sectors, despite Omicron wave fears and an increase in output by OPEC+. Meanwhile, cryptocurrency, big banks, and biotech stocks were hammered. | OEPIX: Oil Equipment & Services UltraSector ProFund | 21.1% | |
| APTRX: Pinnacle TrendRating Innovative Equity Fund | -29.2% | |||
| UCO: ProShares Ultra Bloomberg Crude Oil | 32.3% | |||
| BITQ: Bitwise Crypto Industry Innovators ETF | -31.6% | |||
| U.S. Broad | Value-focused funds and large-caps have generally outperformed in the first part of the year, while growth stocks performed poorly. | FIWCX: Fidelity® SAI International Value Index | 4.4% | |
| VRTGX: Vanguard Russell 2000 Growth Index I | -15.3% | |||
| CSM: ProShares Large Cap Core Plus | 20.0% | |||
| DVP: Roundhill Acquirers Deep Value ETF | -18.9% | |||
| Fixed Inc | Emerging markets bonds, mid-term Treasuries, and high-yield bonds were favored by investors in the first part of the year. At the same time, longer-duration bonds have suffered. | GOBCX: BrandywineGLOBAL | 2.7% | |
| PSLDX: PIMCO StocksPLUS® Long Duration Fund | -13.3% | |||
| HYD: VanEck Vectors High Yield Muni ETF | 16.7% | |||
| PBD: Invesco Global Clean Energy ETF | -16.8% | |||
| Alts | Unsurprisingly, oil & gas focused funds outperformed other commodities and alternate assets. At the other end of the spectrum are cryptocurrencies like Ethereum and Bitcoin. | ENPSX: ProFunds UltraSector Oil & Gas Fund | 17.8% | |
| QSPMX: Quantified Pattern Recognition Fund | -29.9% | |||
| UCO: ProShares Ultra Bloomberg Crude Oil | 32.3% | |||
| ETHE: Grayscale Ethereum Trust (ETH) | -42.8% | |||
| Foreign | Africa and Chile focused funds outperformed funds focused on China and Argentina. | TRZMX: T. Rowe Price Africa & Middle East Fund | 7.7% | |
| OBCHX: Oberweis China Opportunities Fund | -35.9% | |||
| ECH: iShares MSCI Chile ETF | 21.5% | |||
| AGT: iShares MSCI Argentina and Global Exposure ETF | -80.4% |
Fund performance data for the period between December 22, 2021 and January 21, 2022.
Key Economic Indicators
Check out our quick take on the key economic indicators across North America, Europe and Asia.
| Economic Indicators | Comments |
| GDP | China's GDP rose 4% in the fourth quarter of the year, crushing analysts' expectations of 3.3%. Chinese output rose 4.9% in the prior quarter. |
| Monetary Policy | U.S. consumer price index advanced 0.5% in December compared to the prior month, reaching an annual 7%. Housing and used automobiles contributed most to the increase in the price index. Unsurprisingly, the U.S. Federal Reserve is becoming increasingly more hawkish as inflation is hovering near historic highs. Minutes from the Fed released at the beginning of the year indicate that policymakers are prepared to tighten monetary policy earlier than previously expected. |
| Consumer Spending | Saudi Arabia-led OPEC and Russia have agreed to increase oil output by 400,000 barrels per day starting February, as oil prices are strong and the Omicron wave of COVID-19 seems to be easing. Meanwhile, crude oil inventories have continued to decline, showing demand for the commodity remains high. Crude stockpiles have now declined for the seventh week in a row. |
| Employment | The U.S. economy added 199,000 jobs in December, well below analysts' expectations of 426,000. The previous month's figure has been revised to 249,000. However, the unemployment rate fell to 3.9% and is now within a whisker of reaching pre-pandemic levels. Meanwhile, average hourly earnings rose 0.6%, higher than the 0.4% expected by analysts. |
| Manufacturing Sector | The sentiment in the U.S. manufacturing sector has unexpectedly worsened in the first month of the year. An index surveying purchasing managers declined from 61.1 to 58.7, a low not seen since February 2021. However, it might be too early to sound the alarm bells as the Omicron wave is quickly fading. |
| Services Sector | U.S. services purchasing managers' index declined substantially from 69.1 to 62 in January, although it remains well above levels indicating expansion. The next reading will be key in forming a better view if the drop is indicative of a wider trend. |
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.