What Do the SPIVA Australia Results Imply for Active Portfolio Construction?
Our latest SPIVA® Australia Scorecard underscored the challenges that Australian active funds faced in converting a favorable stock-picking environment into meaningful results in 2025. Among the 831 active equity funds domiciled in Australia that we examined—spanning global equity, domestic equity and REITs—over two-thirds (570 funds) underperformed their category benchmarks. In contrast, active Australian bond funds…
Return of the Macro: Declining Dispersion and Climbing Correlations
As we approach the end of the first quarter, the S&P 500® is down 3% QTD, and underneath the surface, there have been significant crosscurrents at play. Concerns about the impact of AI on software companies have been prevalent, with the S&P Software & Services Select Industry Index down 20% QTD, while chipmakers have remained…
Opening the Curtains on S&P/ASX Index Rebalances
For over 25 years, S&P Dow Jones Indices announced only which companies were added or removed from the S&P/ASX index hierarchy, without any further information. The March 2026 launch of the S&P/ASX Stock Selection Data Product allows market participants and index users to examine the underlying factors of the rebalances for these indices for the…
The Takaichi Trade: How Dispersion Shaped Japanese Active Funds’ Fortunes
Amid a strong year for global equities in 2025, the latest SPIVA® Japan Scorecard showed that most active funds in Japan struggled to outperform their assigned benchmarks. An interesting finding in the report was the striking difference in relative performance between actively managed Japanese Large-Cap funds and Japanese Mid-/Small-Cap funds. Just 49% of Japanese Large-Cap…
Unicorns at the Gate: How Mega IPOs Could Reshape Global and Thematic Indices
Big unicorns are outside the door waiting to join the public markets party. Recently, it has been reported that SpaceX,1 OpenAI2 and Anthropic3 are preparing for their initial public offering (IPO) in the near future. This has drawn attention not just for the size of these firms but for the impact they would have on…
Digging into the Divide in Global Financials
Since the beginning of 2025, the global Financials sector has experienced a significant shift. For several years, across the developed world, the sector had been sailing in roughly the same direction, though generally the U.S. at a higher rate of knots. In 2025, market winds blew the S&P 500 Financials (Sector) and the S&P World…
S&P/ASX Sustainability Screened Dividend Opportunities Index: 2025 Performance Review
The S&P/ASX Sustainability Screened Dividend Opportunities Index delivered a standout performance in 2025, establishing itself as the best performer among all the S&P Factor Indices in the Australian equity landscape. The index posted a robust calendar year return of 21.22%, outpacing the S&P/ASX 300 by 10.9% (see Exhibit 1). In addition to its recent outperformance,…
The Drone Identity: Beyond Defense
The idea of unmanned flying machines has existed in human imagination for millennia. However, drones as we know them today only became a practical reality in the late 20th century with systems such as the Predator drone that was developed in the 1990s. Drone technology has evolved rapidly from its early military origins. Currently, drones…
The Dow Jones Dividend 100 Indices Shine in a Strong Start to the Year
As market volatility continues in the U.S., the Dow Jones U.S. Dividend 100 Index and Dow Jones International Dividend 100 Index have emerged as standout performers. Year-to-date (YTD) as of Feb. 28, 2026, both indices have posted double-digit gains (see Exhibit 1). Notably, the Dow Jones U.S. Dividend 100 Index has outperformed its benchmark universe by 14.81%…
Why Do U.S. Equities and the S&P 500 Matter in South Korea?
S&P DJI’s Sue Lee examines the importance of the S&P 500 in the global equity opportunity set, key diversification and sector composition differences between notable U.S. equity and Korean benchmarks and the challenges faced by active managers in the U.S. and South Korea to outperform this iconic index.
