Key Takeaway
- The U.S. joins its European allies in imposing sanctions on Russia affecting commodity prices such as various metals and oil, which topped $90 for the first time since 2014. These price increases led to strong performance of Commodities and Natural Resource Equities which gained 6.23% and 7.13% for the month.
- Volatility is high as the VIX finished the month at 30.15 and equities finished the last week of February up despite uncertainty in interest rates as the Fed hinted at raising interest rates in March.
- Inflation has increased at the fastest pace in 40 years as the Consumer Price Index rose 7.5% year-over-year.
- Value has been outperforming growth in U.S. equities and Small Cap outperformed Large Cap across U.S. and Global equities, this month partly due to concerns of rising interest rates and high relative valuations.
- While bonds outperformed U.S. Large Cap they are still down for the month because of the rising interest rate environment.
You cannot invest directly in an index; therefore, performance returns do not reflect any management fees. Returns of the indices include the reinvestment of all dividends and income, as reported by the commercial databases involved. Returns over one year have been annualized.
Source — Sources: Bloomberg, Morningstar, treasury.gov. S&P Dow Jones Indices.
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