Summit Blog

Not since the release of the third Austin Powers movie have I heard so much talk about gold. Stellar recent returns account for some of that—gold was up 25% year-to-date as of April 30. But another reason is the belief among some market participants that gold represents a safe haven, an asset to stabilize the…

The big news recently was Moody’s downgrading the US sovereign debt rating from AAA to AA. They are the last of the “big three” credit rating agencies to lower the US rating, following Fitch in 2023 and S&P more than a decade ago. As with the Fitch example, credit default swap (CDS) spreads for the US barely…

    The proportion of stocks versus bonds in your portfolio can have a big impact on its largest, smallest, and average calendar-year returns. View PDF Disclosures The information in this material is intended for the recipient’s background information and use only. It is provided in good faith and without any warranty or representation as…

An important function of competitive markets is driving prices to equilibrium. This refers to a state where market prices balance the demand from both buyers and sellers. Every trader who thinks the price of a security is high is offset by one who thinks the price is low. So, they agree to transact, voluntarily, at…

Historically, the broad stock market has often been positive even at the start of economic recessions. But what about small cap stocks? Conventional wisdom holds that smaller companies often bear the brunt of economic downturns. So, what does the data tell us about the size premium when gross domestic product growth slows? Plotting annual return differences…

Written by David Jones Head of UK and Ireland Advisor Group, Dimensional Fund Advisors. Combining an enduring investment philosophy with a simple formula that helps maintain investment discipline can increase the odds of having a positive financial experience. An Enduring Investment Philosophy Investing is a long-term endeavour. Indeed, people will spend decades pursuing their financial goals….

Written by Marlena Lee, PhD Global Head of Investment Solutions, Dimensional Fund Advisors Against the backdrop of heightened political uncertainty, potential trade wars, and lower consumer sentiment, investors may have concerns about whether the US could tip into a recession. The National Bureau of Economic Research identifies recessions using backward-looking data, so we won’t know…

For many investors, it’s hard not to follow the daily fluctuations of the stock market. But day-to-day volatility is a reminder that stocks are best considered a long-term investment. Part of the reason stocks have higher expected returns than bonds is uncertainty over shorter horizons. For example, the S&P 500 Index return was negative in…

It’s been a couple of years since the emergence of single-stock exchange-traded funds which, as the name suggests, provide exposure to a single stock. A number of these have focused on Magnificent 7 stocks, likely providing a nauseating recent experience given the disappointing start to the year for those stocks.1 Some of these ETFs even offer…

KEY TAKEAWAYS With a stark shift in US tariff policy announced on April 2 and ongoing responses worldwide, investors are on edge. Pain that investors may be feeling from current volatility reflects markets setting prices such that expected returns are always positive. While drops in stock prices can be nerve-racking, markets have historically bounced back…

When markets feel as shaky as they do now in the US, it is normal to ask: Is this time different? After all, the S&P 500 Index is down some 4% already this year and there is considerable economic uncertainty. But anxious investors today should consider where the market was five years ago, and how…