In a holiday-shortened trading week due to Memorial Day, market volatility remained elevated.
Equities initially rallied following the Trump Administration’s announcement that tariffs on the European Union would be delayed until summer. Investor sentiment further improved when two U.S. federal courts ruled that President Trump lacked the authority to impose certain early April tariffs. These developments provided a temporary lift to markets. Mid-week momentum continued with a strong earnings report from Nvidia, which exceeded expectations and contributed to tech sector gains. However, by Friday, sentiment turned negative due to lower-than-expected consumer spending data and reports that China may have reneged on trade agreements, which pressured equities heading into the weekend.
Looking ahead, investors will remain focused on the evolving tariff narrative, particularly in light of last week’s FOMC minutes, which highlighted the Federal Reserve’s concerns regarding the economic impact of rising import duties. The upcoming PMI reports for both manufacturing and services sectors are likely to reflect this pressure, as prior readings have trended downward. In addition, markets will monitor labor market data closely, with particular attention to the JOLTS report—already at a six-month low—and Friday’s unemployment rate update. A weak labor print could increase speculation around potential rate cuts by the Fed, possibly influencing bond yields and equity valuations.
Given this economic backdrop, let us see how this impacts the performance of various investment strategies.
Investment Strategy Scorecard
The broader markets continued to remain in the positive territory over the rolling month.
Semiconductors continued their solid run while small and medium caps lost some of its lusture over the rolling month.
U.S Equity Strategies
US growth strategies continued to post positive results, while small and mid cap strategies struggled over the rolling month.
Winning
- Lazard US Equity Concentrated Portfolio (LEVOX), up 218.44%
- Virtus Zevenbergen Innovative Growth Stock Fund (SCATX), up 17.26%
- First Trust US Equity Opportunities ETF (FPX), up 15.31%
- Invesco Dynamic Large Cap Growth ETF (PWB), up 11.51%
- iShares Core S&P U.S. Value ETF (IUSV), up 3.27%
Losing
- Pacer Trendpilot™ US Large Cap ETF (PTLC), down -1.02%
- Voya Russell Mid Cap Index Portfolio (IRMCX), down -7.89%
- Voya Russell Small Cap Index Portfolio (IRSIX), down -8.85%
Dividend Strategies
Several dividend growth strategies continued to post solid results over the rolling month.
Winning
- Fidelity® Dividend Growth Fund (FDGFX), up 8.02%
- Fidelity Advisor® Dividend Growth Fund (FDGTX), up 7.99%
- Invesco BuyBack Achievers ETF (PKW), up 7.61%
- FlexShares Quality Dividend Index Fund (QDF), up 5.94%
- Federated Hermes Strategic Value Dividend Fund (SVAIX), up 0.66%
- Principal Global Diversified Income Fund (PGBAX), up 0.08%
Losing
- Legg Mason Low Volatility High Dividend ETF (LVHD), down -0.35%
- Invesco S&P 500® High Dividend Low Volatility ETF (SPHD), down -0.55%
U.S. Fixed Income Strategies
High yielding debt strategies continued to post decent gains, while some long duration debt strategies struggled for the rolling month.
Winning
- ProShares Short 20+ Year Treasury (TBF), up 4.72%
- PIMCO StocksPLUS® Long Duration Fund (PSLDX), up 3.26%
- Invesco CEF Income Composite ETF (PCEF), up 3.17%
- BlackRock Dynamic High Income Portfolio (BDHAX), up 2.5%
Losing
- SPDR® Portfolio Long Term Treasury ETF (SPTL), down -4.14%
- Fidelity® SAI Long-Term Treasury Bond Index Fund (FBLTX), down -4.53%
- iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF (TLT), down -4.57%
- PIMCO Extended Duration Fund (PEDPX), down -6.94%
Foreign Equity Strategies
Taiwanese equity strategies continued to post solid gains over the rolling month.
Winning
- iShares MSCI Taiwan ETF (EWT), up 14.61%
- WCM Focused Emerging Markets Fund (WCMEX), up 10.68%
- Delaware Emerging Markets Fund (DEMRX), up 10.05%
- iShares MSCI South Korea ETF (EWY), up 9.16%
- Voya International Index Portfolio (IIIAX), up 1.81%
- iShares India 50 ETF (INDY), up 1.43%
- Vanguard Emerging Markets Government Bond Index Fund (VGAVX), flat 0%
Losing
- iShares MSCI Saudi Arabia ETF (KSA), down -5.51%
Foreign Fixed Income Strategies
Several emerging market debt strategies continued to post marginal gains for the rolling month.
Winning
- SPDR® Bloomberg Barclays Emerging Markets Local Bond ETF (EBND), up 1.41%
- PIMCO Emerging Markets Local Currency and Bond Fund (PELPX), up 1.02%
- T. Rowe Price Dynamic Global Bond Fund (TRDZX), up 0.9%
- VanEck J.P. Morgan EM Local Currency Bond ETF (EMLC), up 0.74%
Losing
- PIMCO International Bond Fund Unhedged (PFUNX), down -1.15%
- PIMCO International Bond Fund (“Unhedged”:), down -1.15%
- SPDR® Bloomberg Barclays International Treasury Bond ETF (BWX), down -1.21%
- iShares International Treasury Bond ETF (IGOV), down -1.33%
Alternatives
Among alternatives, contrarian srategies continued to perform better than other alt strategies over the rolling month.
Winning
- Fidelity® Contrafund® Fund (FCNKX), up 8.43%
- Columbia Contrarian Core Fund (SMGIX), up 7.21%
- iShares Currency Hedged MSCI Eurozone ETF (HEZU), up 6.51%
- Xtrackers MSCI EAFE Hedged Equity ETF (DBEF), up 5.56%
Losing
- AlphaSimplex Managed Futures Strategy Fund (AMFAX), down -2.08%
- Invesco DB Agriculture Fund (DBA), down -2.09%
- PIMCO Commodity Real Return Strategy Fund (PCRIX), down -2.21%
- First Trust Global Tactical Commodity Strategy Fund (FTGC), down -2.5%
Sectors
Semiconductors continued to post solid gains over the rolling month, while healthcare strategies struggled.
Winning
- Global X Uranium ETF (URA), up 31.34%
- Amplify Transformational Data Sharing ETF (BLOK), up 22.88%
- Fidelity® Select Semiconductors Portfolio (FSELX), up 17.69%
- Fidelity Advisor® Semiconductors Fund (FIKGX), up 17.18%
Losing
- Putnam Global Health Care Fund (PHSYX), down -5.85%
- Fidelity® Select Health Care Services Portfolio (FSHCX), down -7.25%
- Invesco DWA Healthcare Momentum ETF (PTH), down -7.59%
- ProShares Short QQQ (PSQ), down -8.69%
Methodology
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.
