Stocks spent much of the week moving higher as the last full trading week of September came to a close.

Chipmaker Qualcomm was reported to be in talks to buy troubled rival Intel, helping boost tech stocks early during the week. Monetary and fiscal policy stimulus measures from China also helped spur risk assets (especially emerging market stocks) during the week. Market returns were strengthened by the second quarter’s 3% annualized GDP growth, as expected by analysts, and a significant drop to 0.1% in the Core PCE Index, the Federal Reserve’s preferred measure of inflation. That’s the lowest reading in over a year and was below projections. Meanwhile, the housing market seems to have found momentum, with the S&P Case-Shiller National Home Price Index rising to another all-time high in July, surging more than 11% since 2023.

Next week will kick off with a speech from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. Investors will be keen to see what Powell has to say about the central bank’s larger-than-expected 0.50% rate cut and what can be expected going forward. A lot of uncertainty continues to surround the Fed’s decision to slash rates by this magnitude and its future action. Part of that uncertainty may be cleared up as the Fed’s second mandate, employment, will see new data released. The Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) is expected to stay robust, albeit dip to 7.67 million available jobs. Likewise, non-farm payrolls are expected to expand by just 130,000, while the unemployment rate is set to increase to 4.3%. This lower jobs figure is expected to be reflected in the ISM Manufacturing PMI, which is set to stay in the contracting category at 47.1. However, the services economy is expected to stay strong with the Services PMI staying above 51.

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

Overall, for the rolling month, the broader market was marginally up.

Real estate and Chinese equity strategies posted some of the best performances over the rolling month. Meanwhile, growth and oil strategies struggled.

U.S Equity Strategies

Among U.S. equities, several growth strategies posted solid gains for the rolling month, while value strategies struggled.

Winning

• The Hartford Growth Opportunities Fund (HGOCX), up 310.93%
• Spyglass Growth Fund (SPYGX), up 8.42%
• First Trust US Equity Opportunities ETF (FPX), up 6.6%
• Invesco Dynamic Large Cap Growth ETF (PWB), up 4.09%

Losing

• iShares Russell 2000 Value ETF (IWN), down -2.09%
• iShares Micro-Cap ETF (IWC), down -2.77%
• Fidelity ® Small Cap Value Fund (FCVCX), down -7.1%
• Fidelity® Series Small Cap Opportunities Fund (FSOPX), down -7.36%

Dividend Strategies

Asian dividend strategies came ahead, while several dividend growth strategies struggled.

Winning

• Matthews Asia Dividend Fund (MIPIX), up 3.8%
• HCM Dividend Sector Plus Fund (HCMNX), up 3.3%
• Legg Mason Low Volatility High Dividend ETF (LVHD), up 1.97%
• O’Shares U.S. Quality Dividend ETF (OUSA), up 1.85%

Losing

• BlackRock Equity Dividend Fund (MKDVX), down -0.92%
• iShares Core High Dividend ETF (HDV), down -1.32%
• ProShares Russell 2000 Dividend Growers ETF (SMDV), down -1.83%
• Fidelity® Dividend Growth Fund (FDGFX), down -3.95%

U.S. Fixed Income Strategies

In US fixed income, strategic bond plays along with convertible and high-yield strategies posted modest gains.

Winning

• Loomis Sayles Strategic Income Fund (NEZAX), up 2.14%
• Loomis Sayles Bond Fund (LSBNX), up 2.03%
• iShares Convertible Bond ETF (ICVT), up 1.9%
• First Trust Tactical High Yield ETF (HYLS), up 1.52%

Losing

• ProShares Short 20+ Year Treasury (TBF), down -0.4%
• WisdomTree Floating Rate Treasury Fund (USFR), down -0.5%
• Nuveen Short Duration High Yield Municipal Bond Fund (NVHAX), down -1.92%
• PIMCO StocksPLUS® Long Duration Fund (PSLDX), down -2.2%

Foreign Equity Strategies

Among foreign equities, Chinese equity strategies rebounded and posted solid gains, while South Korean and Brazilian strategies struggled.

Winning

• WisdomTree China ex-State-Owned Enterprises Fund (CXSE), up 11.21%
• iShares MSCI China ETF (MCHI), up 10.5%
• Fidelity® China Region Fund (FHKCX), up 7.01%
• Fidelity® Emerging Asia Fund (FSEAX), up 6.21%

Losing

• Pear Tree Polaris Foreign Value Small Cap Fund (QUSIX), down -1.81%
• Janus Henderson Overseas Fund (JAOSX), down -2.09%
• iShares MSCI Brazil ETF (EWZ), down -3.91%
• iShares MSCI South Korea ETF (EWY), down -4.13%

Foreign Fixed Income Strategies

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

Winning

• Invesco International Bond Fund (OIBIX), up 1.58%
• PIMCO Emerging Markets Local Currency and Bond Fund (PELPX), up 1.51%
• SPDR® Bloomberg Barclays Emerging Markets Local Bond ETF (EBND), up 1.24%
• VanEck Emerging Markets High Yield Bond ETF (HYEM), up 1.18%
• SPDR® Bloomberg Barclays International Treasury Bond ETF (BWX), up 0.48%
• T. Rowe Price International Bond Fund (PAIBX), up 0.42%
• iShares International Treasury Bond ETF (IGOV), up 0.26%

Losing

• Templeton Global Bond Fund (TGBAX), down -0.13%

Alternatives

Among alternatives, preferred stock and gold posted gains over the rolling month, while commodity strategies continued to struggle.

Winning

• Invesco DB Agriculture Fund (DBA), up 5.41%
• Virtus InfraCap U.S. Preferred Stock ETF (PFFA), up 4.62%
• Fidelity® Select Gold Portfolio (FSAGX), up 4.31%
• Janus Henderson Contrarian Fund (JCNCX), up 3.88%

Losing

• iShares GSCI Commodity Dynamic Roll Strategy ETF (COMT), down -1.7%
• PIMCO CommoditiesPLUS® Strategy Fund (PCLAX), down -2.93%
• ETFMG Alternative Harvest ETF (MJ), down -4.36%
• Fidelity® Series Commodity Strategy Fund (FCSSX), down -6.27%

Sectors

Among the sectors and industries, real estate strategies were the top performers while oil struggled.

Winning

• iShares Mortgage Real Estate Capped ETF (REM), up 50%
• Global X MSCI China Consumer Discretionary ETF (CHIQ), up 16.94%
• Fidelity® Select Utilities Portfolio (FSUTX), up 7.85%
• PGIM Jennison Utility Fund (PRUZX), up 7.16%

Losing

• Invesco DB Oil Fund (DBO), down -7.01%
• United States Oil Fund, LP (USO), down -8.16%
• MassMutual Blue Chip Growth Fund (MBCZX), down -8.42%
• MassMutual Select Blue Chip Growth Fund (MBGFX), down -10.58%

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.