Recent Market Performance

Equity markets have been experiencing heightened volatility, with declines raising concerns among investors. Last week marked the worst performance for stocks since September, driven by ongoing uncertainties surrounding tariffs. As of market close on March 10, the S&P 500 has fallen over 8.5% from its February peak, while the Nasdaq has dropped more than 13% from its December high. This turbulence has caused investors to wonder when the selling might stop and to seek strategies to navigate the challenging market environment.

Tariff Uncertainty's Role in the Downturn

A key fact

China’s top legislative body, the National People’s Congress (NPC), kicked off its annual meeting on Wednesday, March 5. This week-long concave, which also includes the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), brings together nearly 3,000 delegates from around the country to iron out national and economic policies for the coming year. Many consider the NPC a “rubber-stamp” legislative body as its decisions unanimously align with the views of the Chinese Communist Party — no proposed bill by the NPC has ever been rejected by parliament. Nonetheless, investors pay close attention to the mee

Key Takeaways:

• Softer real spending in January was a catalyst for traders to reset expectations for growth. Most notable moves were in bond markets as yields dipped on the 10-year Treasury.

• Investors will continue to focus on the uncertain growth trajectory. The odds are rising that the Federal Reserve (Fed) will cut rates three times this year.

• Tariffs stifle free and fair trade, but the impact may not be as bad as the scaremongers say. For example, roughly 75% of Mexican imports are industrial inputs, investment goods, and services. Only 25% are consumer goods. This is a key fact

Historical Challenges Revisited

Many observers note that large cap active managers have often struggled to outperform their benchmark indexes. This was one of many insights we discussed in our recent blog “Why Not Both? Blending Active and Passive Management” we specifically called out large growth managers as having some of the most severe challenges.

Could the Tide Be Turning?

The graph below highlights how the returns of mutual funds in the Lipper US Large Cap Growth category compare to the returns of the Russell 1000 Growth Index, a commonly used large growth benchmark. The blue triangles place