Knowledge Base
S&P 500 sector breakdowns, financial metrics, and comparative analysis of the benchmark index that anchors most investment portfolios.
53 articles in this category — page 2 of 5
The BRK.B vs S&P 500 chart tells a story that shifts depending on which window you look through. Over 58 years, Berkshire has compounded at a rate that dwarfs the index. Over the last decade, the gap has nearly closed. For investors managing taxable accounts with seven or eight figures, the more int
The bitcoin and S&P 500 correlation chart tells a story most retail-facing analysis gets backwards. Bitcoin's average correlation with the S&P 500 was near zero through 2018. By the 2022 bear market, 90-day rolling correlations hit 0.65 to 0.70. That structural shift has direct consequences for how
The S&P SPIVA (S&P Indices Versus Active) scorecard has been tracking active fund performance against passive benchmarks since 2002. The headline finding has been remarkably consistent: over a 15-year horizon, approximately 87 to 90% of actively managed U.S. large-cap equity funds underperform the S
S&P 500 earnings estimates are the single most consequential input to equity valuations, yet most commentary on them is written for people who don't already own $5M+ in equities. This piece covers what the estimates actually show, where Ed Yardeni's framework adds value, where it doesn't, and how to
The S&P 500 technology sector currently represents approximately 29–31% of the index's total market capitalization, according to S&P Dow Jones Indices monthly GICS sector weightings. That number understates true tech exposure. A 2018 reclassification moved Alphabet, Meta, and Netflix into Communicat
The S&P 500 organizes its 500 constituents into 11 sectors using the Global Industry Classification Standard (GICS), a framework jointly developed by MSCI and S&P Dow Jones Indices that classifies companies into 11 sectors, 24 industry groups, 69 industries, and 158 sub-industries based on principal
The S&P 500 earnings yield is the inverse of the P/E ratio: divide trailing twelve-month earnings per share by the current index price, then multiply by 100. If the S&P 500 trades at 5,000 and generates $220 in trailing EPS, the earnings yield is 4.4%. That single number tells you what the market "p
S&P Ratings Direct is a subscription-based platform from S&P Global that provides institutional-grade access to credit ratings, issuer research reports, CreditWatch designations, and sector analysis. It is not the free ratings lookup tool on S&P's public website. The distinction matters because the
From inception in January 2003 through year-end 2023, the S&P 500 Equal Weight Index delivered an annualized return of approximately 11.0–11.5% versus roughly 10.0–10.5% for the cap-weighted S&P 500. That gap sounds modest until you apply it to a $5M allocation over two decades. Then it becomes a co
The S&P Real Estate Select Sector Index tracks the performance of all real estate companies within the S&P 500, weighted by modified market capitalization and classified under the GICS real estate sector. For investors already holding direct property, private equity, or non-traded REITs, understandi
Moody's and S&P use different rating scales, different methodological anchors, and different weighting systems that produce divergent assessments on roughly 50-60% of rated corporate bonds. For investors managing $5M+ fixed income allocations, those divergences are not a nuisance to reconcile. They
The honest answer: top-quartile venture capital funds have historically beaten the S&P 500 by a wide margin. Median VC funds have not. According to Cambridge Associates, top-quartile funds have generated net IRRs in the 15–25% range over long horizons, while the S&P 500 has delivered roughly 10% ann