July 2021 Monthly Index Returns

Good morning.  We hope everyone is still enjoying their summer!

In equities:

• Global equities, as represented by the MSCI ACWI, were positive at 0.7% during July.
• When you peel the onion back a little, the results are mixed.
  • In the US, large cap stocks were positive, with large growth (3.3%) leading the way.  Small cap stocks (core, value, and growth) all fell -3.6% for the month.
  • US Small cap value continues to be the highest returning US equity benchmark over the last 1 yr (63.7%).
  • Internationally, both developed large cap (0.8%) and small cap (1.7%) were positive for the month while emerging markets (-6.7%) and frontier (-0.3%) both fell.  With China representing roughly 40% of EM indexes, returns were negatively impacted by China's recent crackdown on tech and for-profit tutoring companies.
• US REITs was the top performing equity benchmark for the month (5.3%), last 3 months (8.7%) and YTD (29.5%), continuing their rise from the pandemic bottom.

In fixed income:

• The yield curve continued to flatten, with longer rates falling from previous month-end levels. Treasuries outperformed corporates and munis in the 10+ yr and 5-10 Yr portions of the curve.
• Foreign bonds, as represented by the JPM GBI Global ex-US hedged to USD (1.5%) outperformed the BbgBarclays US Agg (1.1%) for the month.
• ST TIPS gained 1.5% during July and remains one of the top FI performers on a YTD (4.5%) and last 1 yr (7.1%) basis.  ST TIPS have benefited from inflationary concerns, though breakeven rates appear to have currently peaked for the year in May.  

Should you have any questions please send an email to support@xyinvestmentsolutions.com

As an additional note, please keep in mind that these reflect historical performance of the current models, not necessarily how accounts were invested in the past.