The S&P 500 reached its pandemic low on 23 March 2020. This page sets out how the major indices and assets performed from that date to early November 2020, with the leading long-only fund and hedge fund shown for comparison.
| Index or asset | Return (USD) | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Bitcoin | 129% | |
| Leading long-only fund, assets above US$2bn | 114% | Morgan Stanley Discovery Fund, 1 April to 30 October 2020 |
| Apple | 112% | |
| Russell 1000 Growth ETF | 75% | |
| Amazon | 74% | |
| Nasdaq | 73% | |
| S&P 500 | 57% | |
| Leading hedge fund, assets above US$2bn | 52% | Cadian Fund, April to September 2020. October data was not available. |
| Gold | 25% | |
| RUB/USD | 4% |
Source: AlternativeSoft, HFR, Eurekahedge, Morningstar and public market data. The two fund rows cover slightly different dates from the indices, as shown.
Measured in local currency, the top index over the period was the Caracas IBC equity index in Venezuela, up 492%. Converted to US dollars, the same index returned minus 23%. Any comparison of index performance has to fix the currency first.
To keep the comparison practical for an institution selecting funds, the fund rows are limited to funds with assets above US$2 billion. The search covered funds in US dollars, Swiss francs, sterling, euros and yen, excluding Bitcoin hedge funds. That gave a universe of 887 hedge funds and 6,977 long-only funds, counting separate share classes.
AlternativeSoft lets you rerun this kind of comparison over any period, across 500,000+ funds and indices, with risk statistics next to the returns.
This article is for information and education only. It is not investment advice or a recommendation to buy, sell or hold any investment. Past performance is not a guide to future returns. Based on analysis by Laurent Favre, first published by AlternativeSoft in 2020. The original article also included a market outlook written at that time.
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