In May 2019, the Dividend Aristocrats (NOBL) managed to outperform the S&P 500 by 83bp, but the strategy's -5.52% return was still its worst absolute performance since the December selloff. In my dataset dating back to 1990, this was the 15th worst total return (out of 353) for the Dividend Aristocrat index
Low Volatility, another defensive equity strategy, posted much stronger returns during the May selloff as I illustrated yesterday. As you will see in this article, there was a wider dispersion of returns among the Dividend Aristocrats with some trade-induced tensions