Markets in a Minute

Visualizing S&P Performance in 2020, By Sector

Published

5 years ago

January 7, 2021

Dorothy Neufeld

This Markets in a Minute Chart is available as a poster.

s&p sector performance charts

Visualizing S&P Performance in 2020, By Sector

With 2020 finally over, many are breathing a sigh of relief.

Investors faced a tumultuous year. Still, the S&P 500 finished strong with a 16% gain, outpacing its decade-long average by 4%. Many sectors that provided the new essentials—like online products, communication software and home materials—outperformed the market. It was, of course, a challenging year for other sectors including energy.

This Markets in a Minute graphic from New York Life Investments ranks the 2020 performance of every sector in the S&P 500 using data from S&P Global.

S&P Performance By Sector

As the world coped with devastating losses and uncertainty, how resilient were S&P 500 sectors?

Here’s how every sector performed, from top to bottom.

S&P 500 Sector	2020 Price Return	2019 Price Return	10-Year Annualized Returns	P/E (Trailing)*
Information Technology	42.2%	48.0%	18.9%	31.6
Consumer Discretionary	32.1%	26.2%	16.0%	48.1
Communication Services	22.2%	30.9%	5.6%	27.5
Materials	18.1%	21.9%	6.6%	40.4
Health Care	11.4%	18.7%	13.8%	25.3
Industrials	9.0%	26.8%	9.6%	28.9
Consumer Staples	7.6%	24.0%	8.7%	25.1
Utilities	-2.8%	22.2%	7.2%	21.1
Financials	-4.1%	29.2%	8.6%	15.3
Real Estate	-5.2%	24.9%	6.6%	36.3
Energy	-37.3%	7.6%	-5.6%	N/A
S&P 500	16.3%	28.9%	11.6%	31.2

*Trailing P/E measures market value divided by the last 12 months of earnings

As no surprise, technology came out on top with over 42% returns for the year.

COVID-19’s economic impact benefited the sector as activities, from work to socializing, moved online. In 2020, the tech sector’s returns were more than double its 18.9% average over the last decade.

Consumer discretionary was also one of 2020’s top sectors. Home to online marketplace giants along with electric vehicle companies, it posted a 32.1% return—surpassing its 2019 gains.

With -37.3% returns, energy was the hardest hit of all. Historic demand disruptions, along with OPEC tensions led to sector weakness. Like energy, real estate had a difficult year. Still, after declining 40% in March, by year-end, the sector mostly rebounded with just 5% losses.

Why The Market Had a Strong Year

Looking back, one of the biggest questions baffling investors is: why did the market perform so well? A number of factors, including government stimulus, low interest rates, and vaccine expectations can all help explain some of its behavior.

Government Stimulus

In March, the U.S. government approved a $2.2 trillion CARES-Act relief package, breaking historical records for stimulus. This helped create optimism in the market as individuals, small-businesses and corporations received financial relief.

At the same time, the Federal Reserve extended its “quantitative easing” policies that it introduced in 2008. Quantitative easing is when the central bank buys a number of longer-term securities. This type of measure is designed to boost economic activity through injecting liquidity into the market.

In 2020, the Federal Reserve began purchasing corporate bonds and other assets—on top of treasuries and mortgage-backed securities (MBS)—for the first time ever. In fact, the Federal Reserve is now estimated to 34% of MBS in the U.S. to help protect American homeowners.

Low Interest Rates

Another force that may have contributed to S&P performance in 2020 was the Federal Reserve’s low-interest rate policy.

Low interest rates mean that borrowing costs are low, which can be favorable for business conditions. In September, the Federal Reserve announced a “lower for longer policy”, stating that it won’t raise rates until 2023.

Vaccine Expectations

The promise of a vaccine rollout has contributed to S&P 500 performance momentum, along with expectations that things could return to normal in 2021. It also corresponded with double-digit gains for the health care sector.

Though roadblocks and uncertainties remain, vaccine announcements in November also helped spur an uptick in the energy sector, which will be influenced by global vaccine efforts in the months ahead. This, in turn, will help travel resume to normal and spark oil & gas demand.

S&P Performance: What Comes Next in 2021

With the first year of the pandemic behind us, it’s hard to say how the story will continue.

As countries acquire vaccines, there is hope for S&P 500 performance, and future stimulus measures could prop up the stock market. Of course, both the containment of the virus and people feeling safe will have an outsized impact on S&P sectors in the shift to a post-pandemic world.

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Markets in a Minute

The Average American’s Financial Portfolio by Account Type

From retirement plans to bank accounts, we show the percentage of an American’s financial portfolio that is typically held in each account.

Published

10 months ago

September 11, 2024

Jenna Ross

The Average American’s Financial Portfolio by Account Type

Where does the average American put their money? From retirement plans to banks, the typical financial portfolio includes a variety of accounts.

In this graphic from Morningstar, we explore what percentage of a person’s money is typically held within each account.

Breaking Down a Typical Financial Portfolio

People put the most money in employer retirement plans, which make up nearly two-fifths of the average financial portfolio. Bank accounts, which include checking, savings, and CDs, hold the second-largest percentage of people’s money.

Account Type	% of Financial Portfolio
Employer retirement plan	38%
Bank account	23%
Brokerage/investment account	14%
Traditional IRA	10%
Roth IRA	7%
Crypto wallet/account	4%
Education savings account	3%
Other	1%

Source: Morningstar Voice of the Investor Report 2024, based on 1,261 U.S. respondents.

Outside of employer retirement plans and bank accounts, the average American keeps nearly 40% of their money in accounts that advisors typically help manage. For instance, people also hold a large portion of their assets in investment accounts and IRAs.

Account Insight for Advisors

Given the large focus on retirement accounts in financial portfolios, advisors can clearly communicate how they will help investors achieve their retirement goals. Notably, Americans say that funding retirement accounts is a top financial goal in the next three years (39% of people), second only to reducing debt (40%).

Americans also say that building an emergency fund is one of their financial goals (35%), which can be supported by the money they hold in bank accounts. However, it can be helpful for advisors to educate clients on the lower return potential of savings accounts and CDs. In comparison, advisors can highlight that investment or retirement accounts can hold assets with more potential for building wealth, like mutual funds or ETFs. With this knowledge in mind, clients will be better able to balance short-term and long-term financial goals.

The survey results also highlight the importance of advisors staying up to date on emerging trends and products. People hold 4% of their money in crypto accounts on average, and nearly a quarter of people said they hold crypto assets like bitcoin. Advisors who educate themselves on these assets can more effectively answer investors’ questions.

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Markets in a Minute

5 Factors Linked to Higher Investor Engagement

Engaged investors review their goals often and are more involved in decisions, but which factors are tied to higher investor engagement?

Published

11 months ago

August 22, 2024

Jenna Ross

Partial bar chart showing the factors linked to higher investor engagement along with a picture of a man looking at a cell phone.

5 Factors Linked to Higher Investor Engagement

Imagine two investors. One investor reviews their investment goals every quarter and actively makes decisions. The second investor hasn’t reviewed their goals in over a year and doesn’t take part in any investment decisions. Are there traits that the first, more involved investor would be more likely to have?

In this graphic from Morningstar, we explore five factors that are associated with high investor engagement.

Influences on Investor Engagement

Morningstar scores their Investor Engagement Index from a low of zero to a high of 100, which indicates full engagement. In their survey, they discovered five traits that are tied to higher average engagement levels among investors.

Factor	Investor Engagement Index Score (Max = 100)
Financial advisor relationship	Don’t work with financial advisor: 63
	Work with financial advisor: 70
Sustainability alignment	No actions/alignment: 63
	Some/full alignment: 74
Trust in AI	Low trust: 61
	High trust: 74
Risk tolerance	Conservative: 62
	Aggressive: 76
Comfort making investment decisions	Low comfort: 42
	High comfort: 76

Morningstar’s Investor Engagement Index is equally weighted based on retail investors’ responses to seven questions: feeling informed about composition and performance of investments, frequency of investment portfolio review, involvement in investment decision-making, understanding of investment concepts and financial markets, frequency of goals review, clarity of investment strategy aligning to long-term goals, and frequency of engagement in financial education activities.

On average, people who work with financial advisors, have sustainability alignment, trust AI, and have a high risk tolerance are more engaged.

The starkest contrast was that people with high comfort making investment decisions have engagement levels that are nearly two times higher than those with low comfort. In fact, people with a high comfort level were significantly more likely to say they were knowledgeable about the composition and performance of their investments (84%) vs. those with low comfort (18%).

Personalizing Experiences Based on Engagement

Advisors can consider adjusting their approach depending on an investor’s engagement level. For example, if a client has an aggressive risk tolerance this may indicate the client is more engaged. Based on this, the advisor could check if the client would prefer more frequent portfolio reviews.

On the other hand, soft skills can play a key role for those who are less engaged. People with low comfort making investment decisions indicated that the top ways their financial advisor provides value is through optimizing for growth and risk management (62%), making them feel more secure about their financial future (38%), and offering peace of mind and relief from the stress of money management (30%).