This week’s economic backdrop reflected cautious trading conditions as major U.S. indices initially rose on strong corporate earnings before fading amid valuation concerns and mixed labor data.

Nvidia’s quarterly beat supported early-week momentum, while Walmart and Target provided stability in the consumer-discretionary segment. However, technology stocks weakened later in the week as stretched valuations came under scrutiny. A stronger-than-expected September payrolls gain, an uptick in the unemployment rate, and downward revisions to prior months added uncertainty over the Federal Reserve’s next steps.

Next week’s economic calendar features delayed September reports on retail and food services sales and durable goods orders, rescheduled following the government shutdown. These backward-looking data points may introduce volatility if results deviate from expectations. Markets will also track trade developments between the United States and China, as several unresolved agreements remain in focus. The combination of data releases, earnings updates, and geopolitical variables positions the coming week as potentially influential for sentiment and policy expectations.

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

The broader markets were in the red for the rolling month.

Healthcare and lithium strategies posted solid gains, as small-cap growth strategies continued to struggle for the rolling month.

U.S Equity Strategies

US equities were mostly down for the rolling month, with some small and mid-cap strategies taking a major hit.

Losing

• Columbia Global Equity Value Fund (CEVYX), down -0.61%
• Columbia Global Value Fund (RSEYX), down -0.65%
• Schwab Fundamental U.S. Large Company Index ETF (FNDX), down -2.45%
• iShares Core S&P U.S. Value ETF (IUSV), down -2.82%
• iShares Micro-Cap ETF (IWC), down -8.73%
• iShares Russell 2000 Growth ETF (IWO), down -8.97%
• Wasatch Small Cap Value Fund (WMCVX), down -10.1%
• Neuberger Berman Mid Cap Growth Fund (NMANX), down -10.17%

Dividend Strategies

The majority of dividend strategies struggled to post any gains for the rolling month.

Winning

• iShares International Select Dividend ETF (IDV), up 0.52%

Losing

• First Trust Dow Jones Global Select Dividend Index Fund (FGD), down -0.35%
• First Eagle Global Income Builder Fund (FEBIX), down -0.65%
• Principal Global Diversified Income Fund (PGBAX), down -1.15%
• Delaware Ivy Mid Cap Income Opportunities Fund (IVOYX), down -4.67%
• Ivy Mid Cap Income Opportunities Fund (IVOSX), down -4.7%
• Invesco High Yield Equity Dividend Achievers™ ETF (PEY), down -6.93%
• ProShares S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats ETF (NOBL), down -30.77%

U.S. Fixed Income Strategies

Shorter-duration bond strategies posted marginal gains for the rolling month as longer-duration bonds struggled.

Winning

• ProShares Short 20+ Year Treasury (TBF), up 3.26%
• DFA Two Year Global Fixed Income Portfolio (DFGFX), up 0.31%
• Invesco Ultra Short Duration ETF (GSY), up 0.28%
• American Beacon SiM High Yld Opps Fund (SHOYX), up 0.11%

Losing

• SPDR® Portfolio Long Term Corporate Bond ETF (SPLB), down -3.19%
• PIMCO 15+ Year U.S. TIPS Index Exchange-Traded Fund (LTPZ), down -3.28%
• PIMCO Extended Duration Fund (PEDPX), down -4.74%
• PIMCO StocksPLUS® Long Duration Fund (PSLDX), down -5.11%

Foreign Equity Strategies

Latin American equity strategies posted decent gains for the rolling month, while some international growth strategies struggled.

Winning

• iShares MSCI Brazil ETF (EWZ), up 6.55%
• iShares Latin America 40 ETF (ILF), up 4.89%
• PIMCO RAE Emerging Markets Fund (PEIFX), up 2.49%
• Lazard Emerging Markets Equity Portfolio (LZEMX), up 1.73%

Losing

• EMQQ The Emerging Markets Internet & Ecommerce ETF (EMQQ), down -7.57%
• iShares MSCI Australia ETF (EWA), down -7.97%
• Thornburg International Growth Fund (THGIX), down -8.54%
• Brown Capital Management International Small Company Fund (BCSVX), down -12.3%

Foreign Fixed Income Strategies

Some international and emerging market debt strategies managed to post marginal gains for the rolling month.

Winning

• Invesco International Bond Fund (OIBIX), up 2.17%
• Eaton Vance Emerging Markets Debt Opportunities Fund (EIDOX), up 1.2%
• VanEck J.P. Morgan EM Local Currency Bond ETF (EMLC), up 0.2%

Losing

• VanEck Emerging Markets High Yield Bond ETF (HYEM), down -0.3%
• DFA World ex U.S. Government Fixed Income Portfolio (DWFIX), down -0.69%
• PIMCO International Bond Fund Unhedged (PFUNX), down -2.03%
• iShares International Treasury Bond ETF (IGOV), down -2.14%
• SPDR® Bloomberg Barclays International Treasury Bond ETF (BWX), down -2.53%

Alternatives

Among the alternatives, some commodity strategies continued to post marginal gains, while contrarian and convertible debt strategies struggled over the rolling month.

Winning

• Invesco Balanced-Risk Commodity Strategy Fund (BRCCX), up 3.33%
• AQR Managed Futures Strategy Fund (AQMIX), up 2.87%
• First Trust Global Tactical Commodity Strategy Fund (FTGC), up 2.74%
• Invesco DB Commodity Index Tracking Fund (DBC), up 2.58%

Losing

• Invesco Convertible Securities Fund (CNSIX), down -6.02%
• SPDR® Bloomberg Barclays Convertible Securities ETF (CWB), down -6.07%
• Janus Henderson Contrarian Fund (JCNCX), down -9.71%
• ETFMG Alternative Harvest ETF (MJ), down -30.58%

Sectors

Healthcare strategies rebounded and posted solid gains, while some innovative tech strategies lost ground over the rolling month.

Winning

• Invesco DWA Healthcare Momentum ETF (PTH), up 7.24%
• Global X Lithium & Battery Tech ETF (LIT), up 7.11%
• Janus Henderson Global Life Sciences Fund (JFNCX), up 6.05%
• The Hartford Healthcare Fund (HGHIX), up 5.72%

Losing

• Transamerica International Focus (TGRFX), down -8.45%
• American Beacon ARK Transformational Innovation Fund (ADNYX), down -18.69%
• Amplify Transformational Data Sharing ETF (BLOK), down -21.11%
• AdvisorShares Pure US Cannabis ETF (MSOS), down -34.56%

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 fund 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 industria,l among others.