GSG - Major Asset Classes: September 2023 Performance Review

2023-10-02 23:31:00 ET

Summary

• Commodities and cash continued to top the monthly performance tables in September for the major asset classes.
• The iShares S&P GSCI Commodity-Indexed Trust was last month’s return leader, rising 3.7% - the fund’s fourth consecutive monthly advance.
• Reflecting the weak trend of late for most risk assets, the Global Market Index fell for a second month in September, losing 4.2% - the steepest drop in a year.

Commodities and cash continued to top the monthly performance tables in September for the major asset classes. Also on display for a second straight month: widespread losses elsewhere for global markets, based on a set of ETF proxies.

The iShares S&P GSCI Commodity-Indexed Trust ( GSG ) was last month’s return leader, rising 3.7% - the fund’s fourth consecutive monthly advance. The gain strengthened GSG’s year-to-date performance to third place - only US stocks ( VTI ) and developed markets equities ex-US ( VEA ) are posting bigger gains so far in 2023.

Cash remained a strong relative performer in September, courtesy of the accumulated rise in interest rates in recent history. The iShares Short Treasury Bond ETF ( SHV ), a cash proxy that holds US Treasuries with maturities of no more than 1 year, edged up 0.4% last month and is higher by 3.5% year to date - the fifth-highest return in 2023 for the major asset classes.

Reflecting the weak trend of late for most risk assets, the Global Market Index ((GMI)) fell for a second month in September, losing 4.2% - the steepest drop in a year. This unmanaged benchmark (maintained by CapitalSpectator.com) holds all the major asset classes (except cash) in market-value weights and represents a competitive benchmark for multi-asset-class portfolios. Despite the latest declines, GMI is still posting a solid 7.5% year-to-date gain - ahead of all its component markets except for the 12.4% year-to-date gain for US shares ((VTI)).

GMI’s performance over the past year has echoed the rise (and more recent fall) in US stocks ((VTI)). US bonds ( BND ), by comparison, are now flat over the past year.

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Editor's Note: The summary bullets for this article were chosen by Seeking Alpha editors.

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