Monthly Market Data - May 2025

Equities were strong and hard assets were positive, while higher interest rates depressed fixed income

Asset Class Returns

Major Asset Class Returns for the 1 Month Ending May 31, 2025

• Fixed Income was the lone asset class with a negative return during May. Rising interest rates along the yield curve put pressure on fixed income securities.

• Return profiles of the remaining asset classes were linear along the risk spectrum.

• U.S. Large Cap produced the best return during the month while Commodities had the worst, among those with positive returns.

• A broad basket of commodities gained 2.02% driven, in part, by a +4.4% return for Oil and a -0.01% return for Gold.

The table below depicts the same information as above and shows which representative security is used for each asset class.

Source: Jackson Creek Investment Advisors; S&P Global

Major Asset Class Returns for the Twelve Months Ending May 31, 2025

• Five of the eight asset classes have returns of 10% or greater over the previous year.

• A diverse mix of asset classes comprise the top three spots for trailing 12-month returns: U.S. Large Cap (+12.2%), International Developed (+12.8%), and Real Estate (+12.2%).

• Despite a positive month, Commodities have a negative trailing twelve-month return (-3.55%).

• U.S. Small Cap stocks were slightly positive for the 12-month period ending in May.

1 Month U.S. Index Returns with Growth & Value Styles

• All equity styles were positive during May. For the core indices, Large Cap beat Mid Cap which beat Small Cap.

• Growth outperformed Value across the capitalization spectrum. The largest dispersion was within the Large Cap universe where the Russell 1000 Growth outperformed the Russell 1000 Value by 530 basis points.

• Small Cap and Mid Cap Value styles fared better than Large Cap Value.

---

Interest Rates

• The yield curve shifted higher along every maturity greater than one month. The largest shifts occurred at the 2YR and 3YR maturities. Both are 29 basis points higher than the previous month.

• Medium-term maturities (1YR to 7YR) have yields below short-term maturities.

• Yields are substantially lower than at the end of last May for all maturities of 10 years or less.

• The 2Y/10Y spread narrowed by 5 basis points from the end of April due to the 10YR yield rising less than the 2YR yield.

• The 2Y/10Y spread is 90 basis points wider than the negative spread from one year ago.

Disclaimer - this is not to be construed as investment advice or a recommendation to buy or sell any security. This is not meant to be indicative of any specific portfolio returns. Please see full disclosure on main blog page.