A “Halftime” Review of Asset Allocation for 2018

July 30, 2018 | Greg Leonberger, FSA, EA, MAAA, FCA, Partner, Director of Research

As of June 30th, the Russell 3000 index was up only 3.2%, a far cry from its 10-year annualized return of almost 9%; the MSCI ACWI ex-U.S. ­— a broad proxy for international stocks — has been even more disappointing, down 3.8% compared to its 2017 return of 27%. Furthermore, most bond strategies are negative for the year, thus dispelling the notion of diversification. However, the year is only halfway complete and as we have seen repeatedly in the capital markets, fortunes can change rapidly and unpredictably. In an effort to formulate explanations and expectations, the following newsletter investigates the disappointing performance from the first half of the year, as well as potential outcomes for the remainder of 2018.

Download PDF >

The opinions expressed herein are those of Marquette Associates, Inc. (“Marquette”), and are subject to change without notice. This material is not financial advice or an offer to purchase or sell any product. Marquette reserves the right to modify its current investment strategies and techniques based on changing market dynamics or client needs.

Greg Leonberger, FSA, EA, MAAA, FCA
Partner, Director of Research

Get to Know Greg

The opinions expressed herein are those of Marquette Associates, Inc. (“Marquette”), and are subject to change without notice. This material is not financial advice or an offer to purchase or sell any product. Marquette reserves the right to modify its current investment strategies and techniques based on changing market dynamics or client needs.

Related Content

11.03.2025

No Small Headwind for Small-Cap Managers

Small-cap equities are in a prolonged period of underperformance relative to large-cap stocks, but this trend has shown early signs…

10.27.2025

Don’t Make Me Repeat Myself

To paraphrase a quote from former President George W. Bush: “Fool me once, shame on… shame on you. Fool me…

10.22.2025

3Q 2025 Market Insights

This video is a recording of a live webinar held October 22 by Marquette’s research team analyzing the third quarter…

10.22.2025

The Calm Before the Storm?

I spent the past weekend at my alma mater to watch them play their biggest rival. Football weekends there are…

10.20.2025

Two Sentiments Diverged

This week’s chart compares institutional and retail investor sentiment using two established indicators. Institutional sentiment is represented by the National…

10.13.2025

The Paths to Liquidity

After a three-year drought, the IPO market is stirring again… but only for a select few. Just 18 companies have…

More articles

Subscribe to Research Email Alerts

Research Email Alert Subscription

Research alerts keep you updated on our latest research publications. Simply enter your contact information, choose the research alerts you would like to receive and click Subscribe. Alerts will be sent as research is published.

We respect your privacy. We will never share or sell your information.

Thank You

We appreciate your interest in Marquette Associates.

If you have questions or need further information, please contact us directly and we will respond to your inquiry within 24 hours.

Contact Us >