Stocks spent much of last week on the ascent as the combination of good earnings reports and a dovish outlook from the Federal Reserve helped boost investor sentiment.

Chipmaker NVIDIA surged as the firm announced record profits and a strong outlook while announcing a stock split. The news helped boost shares of other tech stocks. Also helping drive gains were the latest meeting minutes from the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC). Policymakers continued to stress that they believed inflation was coming down but the process may take longer than expected. Durable goods orders spiked, throwing cold water on some of the week’s gains. Analysts had expected a decline to indicate a slowing economy, which might lead the Fed to cut rates sooner rather than later.

Thanks to the Memorial Day holiday and the official start to summer, next week will feature a shortened trading week with light data. Nonetheless, we will see the Federal Reserve’s favorite inflation metric, the Core PCE Price Index. The metric increased by 0.3% from the previous month in March, with analysts now expecting the measure to dip to 0.2%. This could mean that the policies to slow down inflation are working and rate cuts can be expected soon. Investors will also be tuned into personal spending and income figures. Both metrics unexpectedly surged last month, with analysts expecting moderate increases for April.

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

Overall, major U.S. stock indices continued to post positive results for the rolling month.

Semiconductor strategies posted positive returns for the rolling month. Meanwhile, some small/mid cap and oil strategies struggled.

U.S Equity Strategies

Among U.S. equities, several growth strategies posted solid performance for the rolling month.

Winning

• HCM Tactical Growth Fund (HCMDX), up 8.64%
• Alger Focus Equity Fund (ALZFX), up 7.9%
• Fidelity® Nasdaq Composite Index® ETF (ONEQ), up 6.93%
• iShares Core S&P U.S. Growth ETF (IUSG), up 6.38%
• iShares S&P Small-Cap 600 Value ETF (IJS), up 0.65%
• SPDR® S&P 600 Small Cap Value ETF (SLYV), up 0.64%

Losing

• Voya Russell Small Cap Index Portfolio (IRSIX), down -5.38%
• Voya Russell Mid Cap Index Portfolio (IRMCX), down -8.61%

Dividend Strategies

Several dividend growth strategies posted positive results for the rolling month.

Winning

• Fidelity® Dividend Growth Fund (FDGFX), up 5.85%
• Fidelity Advisor® Dividend Growth Fund (FDGTX), up 5.79%
• Fidelity® Dividend ETF for Rising Rates (FDRR), up 4.1%
• Fidelity® High Dividend ETF (FDVV), up 3.96%

Losing

• ProShares S&P MidCap 400 Dividend Aristocrats ETF (REGL), down -1.31%
• Invesco High Yield Equity Dividend Achievers™ ETF (PEY), down -1.34%
• DWS CROCI Equity Dividend Fd (KDHSX), down -1.35%
• Pioneer Equity Income Fund (PEQIX), down -1.46%

U.S. Fixed Income Strategies

In US fixed income, long duration debt strategies continued to post positive results for the rolling month.

Winning

• PIMCO StocksPLUS® Long Duration Fund (PSLDX), up 6.33%
• Vanguard Extended Duration Treasury Index Fund (VEDIX), up 3.92%
• iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF (TLT), up 2.34%
• Invesco CEF Income Composite ETF (PCEF), up 2.33%

Losing

• AMG GW&K Municipal Bond Fund (GWMIX), down -0.88%
• AlphaCentric Income Opportunities Fund (IOFCX), down -1.19%
• ProShares Short 20+ Year Treasury (TBF), down -2.03%
• iShares Floating Rate Bond ETF (FLOT), down -2.33%

Foreign Equity Strategies

Among foreign equities, Chinese equity strategies continued to post solid performances, while Saudi Arabian stragies struggled.

Winning

• iShares Asia 50 ETF (AIA), up 10.86%
• iShares MSCI China ETF (MCHI), up 10.66%
• Fidelity® China Region Fund (FHKCX), up 10.27%
• PGIM Jennison Emerging Markets Equity Opportunities Fund (PDEZX), up 8.52%
• Morgan Stanley Institutional Fund, Inc. International Advantage Portfolio (MFAIX), up 0.17%

Losing

• Fidelity® Series Canada Fund (FCNSX), down -0.98%
• iShares MSCI Brazil ETF (EWZ), down -1.67%
• iShares MSCI Saudi Arabia ETF (KSA), down -4.85%

Foreign Fixed Income Strategies

Majority of foreign fixed income strategies posted moderate gains for the rolling month.

Winning

• Invesco International Bond Fund (OIBIX), up 2.13%
• VanEck J.P. Morgan EM Local Currency Bond ETF (EMLC), up 2.09%
• Eaton Vance Emerging Markets Local Income Fund (EEIIX), up 2.08%
• VanEck Emerging Markets High Yield Bond ETF (HYEM), up 1.86%
• iShares J.P. Morgan USD Emerging Markets Bond ETF (EMB), up 0.54%
• Janus Henderson Developed World Bond Fund (HFARX), up 0.4%
• SPDR® Bloomberg Barclays International Treasury Bond ETF (BWX), up 0.28%
• DFA World ex U.S. Government Fixed Income Portfolio (DWFIX), up 0.12%

Alternatives

Among alternatives, gold strategies posted strong results over the rolling month, while agriculture and managed futures strategies continued to struggle.

Winning

• Fidelity® Select Gold Portfolio (FSAGX), up 4.5%
• Janus Henderson U.S. Managed Volatility Fund (JRSDX), up 4.02%
• iShares MSCI Emerging Markets Min Vol Factor ETF (EEMV), up 3.03%
• iShares Currency Hedged MSCI EAFE ETF (HEFA), up 3.02%

Losing

• AQR Managed Futures Strategy Fund (AQMIX), down -1.51%
• PIMCO TRENDS Managed Futures Strategy Fund (PQTIX), down -1.62%
• ETFMG Alternative Harvest ETF (MJ), down -2.84%
• Invesco DB Agriculture Fund (DBA), down -5.09%

Sectors

Among the sectors and industries, semiconductor strategies posted strong performance, while energy strategies continued to struggle.

Winning

• Fidelity® Select Semiconductors Portfolio (FSELX), up 16.9%
• Fidelity Advisor® Semiconductors Fund (FIKGX), up 16.32%
• First Trust NASDAQ® Clean Edge® Green Energy Index Fund (QCLN), up 15.87%
• VanEck Vectors Semiconductor ETF (SMH), up 15.41%

Losing

• Fidelity® Select Energy Portfolio (FSENX), down -4.04%
• Vanguard Energy Index Fund (VENAX), down -4.51%
• United States Oil Fund, LP (USO), down -6.91%
• AdvisorShares Pure US Cannabis ETF (MSOS), down -6.98%

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.