The Barron’s 400: Tangible Growth In a Metaverse World
U.S. markets threw a small tantrum on the last trading day of November when Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell suggested, in testimony before Congress, that the central bank might accelerate the pace at which it tapers off its monthly asset purchases. Such a move would not only remove excess liquidity sloshing around global markets more […]
Concentration of Stock Market Returns: Luck or Skill?
The active versus passive management of portfolios is a recurring debate among investors that never seems to lose currency. In recent years, it has gained renewed relevance given the astounding growth of ETFs and index funds which has led to the concentration of assets in a handful of funds managed by a handful of firms. […]
Factor Investing and the Barron’s 400 Index
In the last 20 years the U.S. stock market has had two massive drawdowns of at least 45% apiece and one significant correction in excess of 20%. The larger of these events, discussed below, impacted the psyche and collective behavior of equity investors as much for the magnitude of the decline in equity prices as […]
Barron’s 400 Index Completes Its Largest Rotation Since 2008
The Barron’s 400 Index (B400) opened this week with 196 new members, having completed its latest semi-annual reconstitution and rebalance on Friday, March 15th. This represented the largest rotation in 11 years, equivalent to 49% of its entire roster, and well above its historical average turnover of 41.8%. This rotation also seemed pretty timely following […]
2018 in Review and a Look Ahead at 2019
The Barron’s 400 Index closed 2018 with a forgettable fourth quarter, falling 22.3% on a price-only basis from the end of August through New Year’s Eve (actually a calendar quarter plus one additional month) after having led broad market benchmarks for much of the year. As a result of such dismal performance, the index closed […]
The Barron’s 400 Doubles Down on the U.S. Economy
When U.S. markets opened for trading last Monday morning, the Barron’s 400 Index debuted its updated constituent lineup, having replaced 149 companies, or 37.3% of its roster. While this turnover is well below the index’s historical average of 41.6%, the changes underlying this latest reconstitution, especially at the sector level, speak volumes about the persistent […]
Barron’s 400 ETF (NYSE Arca: BFOR) Celebrates 5-Year Milestone
Congratulations are in order to our partners at ALPS this week as the ETF tracking the Barron’s 400 ETF (BFOR), a member of their fund lineup, celebrated its fifth anniversary on Monday. And there is no better way to celebrate the anniversary than by looking back at the fund’s performance since its trading debut on […]
The Newly Reconstituted Barron’s 400:
A Little Less ‘Gig’ Economy, a Lot More Builders of ‘Things’ On Monday the Barron’s 400 Index kicked off its new “rebalance” semester amidst a very different market environment from the one it enjoyed during the prior six months. Judging by the meaningful changes made to its list of constituents, the index seems to be […]
2017 in Review and a Look Ahead at 2018
The Barron’s 400 Index had another strong year in 2017, gaining 18.2% on a price return basis and 19.7% on a total return basis (which includes dividends). 2017, of course, was a very good year for equities across the board; yet there was a fairly significant divergence in performance across market segments, which often seems […]
