Only two of 14 equity sectors have reported positive returns over the past 12 months as worldwide stockmarkets have plummeted due to COVID-19, according to data.
According to data from FE Analytics, only the North America equity and global equity sectors, within the Australian Core Strategies universe, have made a return.
North American equity funds returned 4.4% over the 12 months to 30 April, 2020, while the global equities sector returned 0.6%.
The best-performing North American fund over one year was the BetaShares NASDAQ 100 ETF which returned 23.5% and the SSGA SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust which returned 19.6%.
In the global sector, the best-performing fund over one year was CFS WS Baillie Gifford Long Term Global Growth fund which returned 30.8%.
Looking at performance since the start of 2020, North American equities was the best-performing sector but it still reported losses, seeing a year to date loss of 4.8%. Nevertheless, three funds still managed to report gains which were SSGA SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (9.3%), BetaShares NASDAQ 100 ETF (7.7%) and BetaShares US Equities Strong Bear ETF Currency Hedged (5%).
However, the global equities sector fell from second place over one year to third place year to date a loss of 6.5%. In its place in the second best-performing spot went to the specialist equity sector which lost 5.4%.
While the overall sector average was a loss, some 45% of the funds reported positive returns since the start of the year with the highest gains seen by healthcare funds. These were L&G Healthcare Breakthrough UCITS ETF (11.7%) and Platinum International Health Care (11.3%).
However, other funds in the sector saw double-digit losses which caused the negative sector average. These included BetaShares Global Banks ETF Currency Hedged and VanEck Australian Banks which both fell over 28%.
