The US large-cap Russell 1000® Index has outperformed the US small-cap Russell 2000® Index over the past year. In 2018, the Russell 1000 lost 4.8% as compared to a loss of 11% for the Russell 2000. And in the fourth quarter, the Russell 1000 lost 13.8% as compared to a 20.2% loss for the Russell 2000.*
As investors look to 2019 and grapple with continued market volatility, market experts from FTSE Russell help to put the large cap small cap gap into a broader perspective.
Alec Young, managing director, Global Markets Research, FTSE Russell:
“Small caps tend to be more economically sensitive and cyclical than large caps and have hence been more vulnerable amidst worries about slowing economic growth. In this context, several fundamental advantages have emerged, buoying large caps:
- Leverage: US large-cap stocks, which comprise the Russell 1000 Index, generally have stronger balance sheets and lower leverage ratios that have proved a big help amid rising rates, widening credit spreads and increasing worries over historically very high levels of corporate debt.
- Earnings: Large cap companies of the Russell 1000 Index have enjoyed a much slower pace of negative earnings revisions than their small cap counterparts comprising the Russell 2000 Index. While Wall Street consensus profit projections have recently declined across the board, the downtrend has been less pronounced among large cap companies.
- Valuations: Large caps’ lower valuations have helped cushion their decline relative to small caps. The Russell 2000 Index generally sees a significant premium to the Russell 1000 reflecting faster long-term earnings growth prospects. However, when earnings revisions turn negative small caps’ higher multiples usually make for greater drawdowns.”
For more information on the Russell US Indexes, visit FTSE Russell.
Source: FTSE Russell. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Please see the end for important legal disclosures.
© 2019 London Stock Exchange Group plc and its applicable group undertakings (the “LSE Group”). The LSE Group includes (1) FTSE International Limited (“FTSE”), (2) Frank Russell Company (“Russell”), (3) FTSE Global Debt Capital Markets Inc. and FTSE Global Debt Capital Markets Limited (together, “FTSE Canada”), (4) MTSNext Limited (“MTSNext”), (5) Mergent, Inc. (“Mergent”), (6) FTSE Fixed Income LLC (“FTSE FI”) and (7) The Yield Book Inc (“YB”). All rights reserved.
FTSE Russell® is a trading name of FTSE, Russell, FTSE Canada, MTSNext, Mergent, FTSE FI, YB. “FTSE®”, “Russell®”, “FTSE Russell®”, “MTS®”, “FTSE4Good®”, “ICB®”, “Mergent®”, “The Yield Book®”, and all other trademarks and service marks used herein (whether registered or unregistered) are trademarks and/or service marks owned or licensed by the applicable member of the LSE Group or their respective licensors and are owned, or used under licence, by FTSE, Russell, MTSNext, FTSE Canada, Mergent, FTSE FI, YB. FTSE International Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority as a benchmark administrator.
All information is provided for information purposes only. All information and data contained in this publication is obtained by the LSE Group, from sources believed by it to be accurate and reliable. Because of the possibility of human and mechanical error as well as other factors, however, such information and data is provided “as is” without warranty of any kind. No member of the LSE Group nor their respective directors, officers, employees, partners or licensors make any claim, prediction, warranty or representation whatsoever, expressly or impliedly, either as to the accuracy, timeliness, completeness, merchantability of any information or of results to be obtained from the use of the FTSE Russell Indexes or the fitness or suitability of the FTSE Russell Indexes for any particular purpose to which they might be put. Any representation of historical data accessible through FTSE Russell Indexes is provided for information purposes only and is not a reliable indicator of future performance.
Views expressed by Alec Young of FTSE Russell are as of January 7th and subject to change. These views do not necessarily reflect the opinion of FTSE Russell or the LSE Group.
No responsibility or liability can be accepted by any member of the LSE Group nor their respective directors, officers, employees, partners or licensors for (a) any loss or damage in whole or in part caused by, resulting from, or relating to any error (negligent or otherwise) or other circumstance involved in procuring, collecting, compiling, interpreting, analysing, editing, transcribing, transmitting, communicating or delivering any such information or data or from use of this document or links to this document or (b) any direct, indirect, special, consequential or incidental damages whatsoever, even if any member of the LSE Group is advised in advance of the possibility of such damages, resulting from the use of, or inability to use, such information.
No member of the LSE Group nor their respective directors, officers, employees, partners or licensors provide investment advice and nothing contained in this document or accessible through FTSE Russell Indexes, including statistical data and industry reports, should be taken as constituting financial or investment advice or a financial promotion.
Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Charts and graphs are provided for illustrative purposes only. Index returns shown may not represent the results of the actual trading of investable assets. Certain returns shown may reflect back-tested performance. All performance presented prior to the index inception date is back-tested performance. Back-tested performance is not actual performance, but is hypothetical. The back-test calculations are based on the same methodology that was in effect when the index was officially launched. However, back- tested data may reflect the application of the index methodology with the benefit of hindsight, and the historic calculations of an index may change from month to month based on revisions to the underlying economic data used in the calculation of the index.
This publication may contain forward-looking assessments. These are based upon a number of assumptions concerning future conditions that ultimately may prove to be inaccurate. Such forward-looking assessments are subject to risks and uncertainties and may be affected by various factors that may cause actual results to differ materially. No member of the LSE Group nor their licensors assume any duty to and do not undertake to update forward-looking assessments.
No part of this information may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission of the applicable member of the LSE Group. Use and distribution of the LSE Group data requires a licence from FTSE, Russell, FTSE Canada, MTSNext, Mergent, FTSE FI, YB and/or their respective licensors.
