Perspectives Newsletter: Q2, 2012
The mad dash between “risk on” and “risk off” continued to play out daily, weekly and monthly during the second quarter, with “risk off” winning. By being down less, US markets again outperformed the rest of the world; large cap led all other capitalizations; value beat growth. Within the S&P500, defensive sectors outstripped cyclical sectors. High frequency traders’ influence was felt throughout the quarter, evidenced by momentum factors trumping valuation in stock picking, and dispersion of performance (the range between relative returns) being extreme across styles, sectors and individual stocks.
