We put out this scoreboard of returns by different asset classes month to month because it’s a quick way to see how each perform throughout the year. 2017 has been the most bewildering year of returns for all asset classes. Not because performance has been erratic, but because not one asset class has moved up or down in the scoreboard since March!
[REITs]The contrarians would say this is JUST about the time we need to be worrying about a black swan. A market turn that no one saw coming. But what if we’re in a black swan right now? Markets have never moved up and consistently, with this low of volatility. What if this year’s strong performance despite the chaos is the black swan? Since it’s a “good” unexpected event, we wanted to coin a new term: a White Moose.
World Stocks just topped 20% on the year, stocks shrugged off another one day scare, Hedge Funds haven’t recorded a negative month in 2017, while Managed Futures continues to have up and down months. Stay tuned.
Source: All ETF performance data from Morningstar.com
Sources: Managed Futures = SocGen CTA Index, Cash = 13 week T-Bill rate,
Bonds = Vanguard Total Bond Market ETF (BND),
Hedge Funds= IQ Hedge Multi-Strategy (QAI)
Commodities = iShares GSCI ETF (GSG);
Real Estate = iShares DJ Real Estate ETF (IYR);
World Stocks = iShares MSCI ACWI ex US Index Fund ETF (ACWX);
US Stocks = SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY)
Article by RCM Alternatives
