Major stock indexes spent much of last week climbing as several bullish data points and earnings reports gave investors the green light to return to risk assets.

After last week’s Jackson Hole Summit speeches and a near-guarantee from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell that the central bank would start cutting rates, more confirmation was to come via the core Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) price index. The central bank’s favorite inflation gauge increased by 0.2% month-over-month, in line with expectations, and 2.6% year-over-year, indicating that the bank’s successive rate hikes to restore price stability had worked. Personal spending and income data remained strong as well. On the earnings front, NVIDIA’s strong report helped boost tech stocks during the week, highlighting that the AI boom is here to stay.

Thanks to the Labor Day holiday, next week will feature a shortened trading session. However, data on the week will still be heavy with a focus on the labor economy. This includes the latest Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) report. While still bullish, the number of available jobs is expected to decline to 8.09M. The official unemployment rate is expected to stay at 4.3%, reaching heights not seen since the pandemic. Non-farm payrolls are also expected to drift lower, providing the Federal Reserve with more ammunition to begin cutting rates to improve the employment picture. Elsewhere, both the services and manufacturing PMIs are expected to show only slight expansions, below previous estimates and indicating the economy is slowing across multiple channels. The result is that stocks could rally as the central bank gets ready to cut rates.

Given this economic backdrop, let us see how this impacts the performance of various investment strategies.

Overall, for the rolling month the broader market continued to show signs of recovery.

Brazilian equities and longer-duration bonds posted some of the best performances over the rolling month. Meanwhile, small and mid-cap strategies struggled.

U.S Equity Strategies

Among U.S. equities, several growth strategies reversed course and posted gains for the rolling month.

Winning

• Virtus Zevenbergen Innovative Growth Stock Fund (SCATX), up 6.23%
• Allspring Premier Large Company Growth Fund (WFPDX), up 4.88%
• Invesco Dynamic Large Cap Growth ETF (PWB), up 2.42%
• iShares Morningstar Growth ETF (ILCG), up 1.77%

Losing

• iShares Russell 2000 Value ETF (IWN), down -7.98%
• iShares Micro-Cap ETF (IWC), down -9.75%
• Strategic Advisers® Small-Mid Cap Fund (FSCFX), down -12.95%
• VY® T. Rowe Price Diversified Mid Cap Growth Portfolio (IAXTX), down -13.28%

Dividend Strategies

International and dividend growth strategies posted positive performance while small cap dividend strategies struggled.

Winning

• SPDR® S&P International Dividend ETF (DWX), up 1.97%
• Lord Abbett Dividend Growth Fund (LAMYX), up 1.24%
• Nuveen Santa Barbara Dividend Growth Fund (NSBFX), up 1.2%
• O’Shares U.S. Quality Dividend ETF (OUSA), up 0.89%

Losing

• HCM Dividend Sector Plus Fund (HCMNX), down -3.45%
• Principal Small-MidCap Dividend Income Fund (PMDIX), down -4.13%
• WisdomTree U.S. SmallCap Dividend Fund (DES), down -7.15%
• ProShares Russell 2000 Dividend Growers ETF (SMDV), down -7.34%

U.S. Fixed Income Strategies

In US fixed income, long duration strategies continued to rally.

Winning

• Vanguard Extended Duration Treasury Index Fund (VEDIX), up 6.42%
• PIMCO Extended Duration Fund (PEDPX), up 6.3%
• iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF (TLT), up 4.3%
• SPDR® Portfolio Long Term Treasury ETF (SPTL), up 4.06%

Losing

• Hartford Floating Rate Fund (HFLFX), down -0.52%
• Miller Convertible Bond Fund (MCIFX), down -0.86%
• iShares Interest Rate Hedged Long-Term Corporate Bond ETF (IGBH), down -1.2%
• ProShares Short 20+ Year Treasury (TBF), down -4.34%

Foreign Equity Strategies

Among foreign equities, Brazilian equity strategies continued to post gains, while European and Indian strategies struggled.

Winning

• iShares MSCI Brazil ETF (EWZ), up 8.66%
• iShares Latin America 40 ETF (ILF), up 5.08%
• Artisan Developing World Fund (APHYX), up 4.34%
• Morgan Stanley Institutional Fund, Inc. International Opportunity Portfolio (MIOPX), up 4.09%

Losing

• T. Rowe Price Japan Fund (RJAIX), down -2.06%
• State Street Hedged International Developed Equity Index Fund (SSHQX), down -2.47%
• WisdomTree India Earnings Fund (EPI), down -3.29%
• WisdomTree Europe Hedged Equity Fund (HEDJ), down -3.34%

Foreign Fixed Income Strategies

The majority of the foreign market debt strategies were slightly up over the rolling month.

Winning

• Templeton Global Bond Fund (TGBAX), up 4.91%
• SPDR® Bloomberg Barclays International Treasury Bond ETF (BWX), up 3.64%
• Eaton Vance Emerging Markets Local Income Fund (EEIIX), up 3.63%
• iShares International Treasury Bond ETF (IGOV), up 2.94%
• iShares J.P. Morgan USD Emerging Markets Bond ETF (EMB), up 1.29%
• TCW Emerging Markets Income Fund (TGEIX), up 0.76%
• VanEck Emerging Markets High Yield Bond ETF (HYEM), up 0.15%
• Eaton Vance Emerging Markets Debt Opportunities Fund (EIDOX), up 0.13%

Alternatives

Among alternatives, mortgage strategies continued to post gains over the rolling month, while hedged Japanese equity strategies struggled.

Winning

• Columbia Mortgage Opportunities Fund (CLMAX), up 3.23%
• Fidelity® Contrafund® Fund (FCNKX), up 2.97%
• SPDR® DoubleLine Total Return Tactical ETF (TOTL), up 1.96%
• Invesco Preferred ETF (PGX), up 1.55%

Losing

• Abbey Capital Futures Strategy Fund (ABYIX), down -3.44%
• Invesco S&P SmallCap Low Volatility ETF (XSLV), down -5.65%
• AlphaSimplex Managed Futures Strategy Fund (AMFAX), down -5.79%
• WisdomTree Japan Hedged Equity Fund (DXJ), down -6.66%

Sectors

Among the sectors and industries, carbon and semiconductor strategies were the top performers while clean energy and oil services struggled.

Winning

• KraneShares Global Carbon ETF (KRBN), up 4.87%
• Fidelity Advisor® Semiconductors Fund (FIKGX), up 4.26%
• Aberdeen Standard Physical Palladium Shares ETF (PALL), up 4.1%
• BlackRock Technology Opportunities Fund (BGSAX), up 4.03%

Losing

• American Beacon ARK Transformational Innovation Fund (ADNYX), down -6.37%
• John Hancock Regional Bank Fund (FRBAX), down -9.06%
• VanEck Oil Services ETF (OIH), down -10.55%
• Invesco WilderHill Clean Energy ETF (PBW), down -13.49%

Every week, MutualFunds.com provides a snapshot of the performance of some key mutual funds and ETFs to highlight the trending investment strategies across different sectors, geographic regions, asset classes, and themes. MutualFunds.com uses a proprietary system to scan through thousands of relevant mutual funds and ETFs. Fund performance data is calculated for the trailing one month, based on the change in NAV.


Here is a summary of the different strategies covered in this article:

• U.S. equity strategies typically cover different equity investing styles (growth/value/blend) and market capitalizations (small/mid/large).
• Dividend strategies focus on generating income via different equity routes (high yield/dividend growth/foreign dividend/quality dividend)
• U.S. fixed income strategies focus on debt securities issued by U.S. entities and can cover different types of debt (corporate/municipal/high-yield/investment-grade/government/asset-backed) and maturity profiles (short/medium/long).
• Foreign equity strategies cover equity strategies applied to non-U.S. markets based on the level of economic growth (emerging/developed), regions (Asia/Europe/Africa), and market capitalizations (small/mid/large).
• Foreign fixed-income strategies focus on debt securities issued outside the U.S. markets and can cover different regions (Asia/Europe/Africa) and regions based on the level of economic development (emerging/developed).
• Alternative strategies cover non-traditional investments (currencies, hedge funds strategies, derivatives, volatility-based), real estate, and commodities.
• Sector strategies cover dedicated exposure to various sectors of the U.S. economy including technology, healthcare, financial, and industrial among others.