December 2023 Monthly Index Returns
Happy New Year!
In stocks (equities):
- For the month of December:
- All equity indexes shown were positive with US Small Cap Value (+12.4%) leading the way
- Earning +3.0%, Frontier Markets trailed for the month of December
- Value beat growth in both US large and small cap but it was the opposite in Intl Developed markets
- Global REITS gained 9.8%
- For one year and longer time periods:
- All equity indexes have positive returns over 1, 5, 10, 15 and 20 yr periods; only a handful of equity indexes have negative returns over the last 3 years. This highlights that even when there are downturns, equities are expected to have positive returns over longer periods of time.
- For 2023, global equities as represented by the MSCI ACWI were up 22.2%! The lowest returning asset classes for 2023 were non-US REITS (+5.1%) and emerging markets, which were still up 9.8%. In other words, it was a strong year for stocks.
- US Small Cap Value (+14.6%) and Intl Developed Small Cap Value (+14.7%) had strong returns in 2023.
In fixed income (bonds):
- For the month of December:
- All bond returns were positive with the lowest return coming from the US 3 month Tbill (+0.5%) and the highest coming from US 10+ Yr Treasuries (+8.1%).
- Munis lagged their Treasury and Corporate counterparts.
- Global Agg ex-US (hedged USD) was up a solid 2.7%.
- For one year and longer time periods:
- All bond indexes have positive returns over 1,10, 15 and 20 yr periods; only a handful of bond indexes have negative returns over the last 3 and 5 years.
- US High Yield led the way in 2023, gaining +13.4% followed by 10+ yr Corporates at +10.7%. Global Agg ex-US (hedged) had a strong 2023 with a return of +8.3%, beating most US bond indexes.
- Even with a strong December, US 10+ Yr Treasuries had the lowest bond return in 2023 but were still positive at 2.8%
Please let us know if you have any questions by emailing 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.
