Research & Insights
8/26/2016
July TAG Tactical Commentary: The S&P 500 rallied based upon a strong June Employment Report showing 287,000 new jobs, thus relieving the fears from May's very poor report of only 38,000 new jobs (plus -59,000 jobs revision downward for prior two months)... (click here)
8/26/2016
July RPg Tactical Commentary: In July, global equity markets dismissed worries related to the surprising results of June's Brexit referendum, and U.S. equities posted healthy gains. The S&P 500® increased over 3% on a total return basis. Not surprisingly, volatility declined substantially. (click here)
7/19/2016
June RPg Tactical Commentary:Although markets around the world reeled from the unexpected results of the June 23rd “Brexit” referendum, U.S. equity markets posted another positive month as the S&P 500 ended June up 0.26% on a total return basis. (click here)
6/07/2016
May RPg Tactical Commentary:U.S. equity markets posted another positive month as the S&P 500 ended May up 1.79% on a total return basis despite growing expectations that the Fed will raise interest rates sooner than previously anticipated. (click here)
5/10/2016
April RPg Tactical Commentary:U.S. equity markets were up slightly in April following strong performance in March as the S&P 500 ended the month up marginally. Energy was the strongest sector on the heels of increasing oil prices, while the Technology sector struggled from lackluster earnings and entered negative territory year to date. (click here)
4/08/2016
March RPg Tactical Commentary:Following some early struggles, US equities rebounded in March to end the first quarter in positive territory. The S&P 500 closed the month of March at a YTD high, and is only around 3% below its all-time high set last May. (click here)
3/10/2016
February RPg Tactical Commentary: Following a selloff in the first half of the month, U.S equity markets staged a rally that mostly offset previous losses, ending February in slightly negative territory. This market recovery coincided with the release of January retail sales showing that the US consumer is still spending. (click here)
3/04/2016
Weekly RPg Q-Tube Tactical Commentary: A brief digest of the past week’s market activity through the RPg quantitative model with a focus on evolving risk, reward and correlation trends and their implications for portfolio construction. (click here)
2/26/2016
Weekly RPg Q-Tube Tactical Commentary: A brief digest of the past week’s market activity through the RPg quantitative model with a focus on evolving risk, reward and correlation trends and their implications for portfolio construction. (click here)
2/19/2016
Weekly RPg Q-Tube Tactical Commentary: A brief digest of the past week’s market activity through the RPg quantitative model with a focus on evolving risk, reward and correlation trends and their implications for portfolio construction. (click here)
2/12/2016
Weekly RPg Q-Tube Tactical Commentary: A brief digest of the past week’s market activity through the RPg quantitative model with a focus on evolving risk, reward and correlation trends and their implications for portfolio construction. (click here)
2/5/2016
Weekly RPg Q-Tube Tactical Commentary: A brief digest of the past week’s market activity through the RPg quantitative model with a focus on evolving risk, reward and correlation trends and their implications for portfolio construction. (click here)
2/2/2016
Monthly RPg Tactical Commentary: Even with the Bank of Japan introducing negative interest rates the last day of January, the swift correction in asset prices year to date has investors focused on the potential for a recession in 2016. (click here)
1/7/2016
Monthly RPg Tactical Commentary: The S&P 500 traded lower in December continuing the whipsaw trend of 2015. The mystery surrounding the Fed has finally been resolved, at least until the next meeting in 2016. But even with liftoff in the rearview mirror, US equities continue to struggle with a familiar litany of issues: lack of organic earnings growth, mixed economic data and deteriorating conditions in the credit markets. In addition, market breadth continues to diminish. (click here)
12/17/2015
Monthly RPg Tactical Commentary:The S&P 500 traded slightly higher in November with significant dispersion at the sector level coming off of the strongest month since 2011. The US looks to be a little better than the rest of the world, and most agree that the Fed will look to tighten by increasing the Federal Funds rate at the December 15-16 meeting. Economic data has become more of a focus as the December 2015 interest rate decision approaches. (click here)
11/19/2015
Monthly RPg Tactical Commentary:Leading the way for October were previously beaten-down sectors such as Energy and Materials. Economic data is expected become more important next month as the data dependent Fed is seen as focusing in on the current trends for its December 2015 interest rate decision. As a data dependent firm who is also seeking trends, a September/October combination of risk off/risk on makes for a difficult environment. (click here)
10/9/2015
Monthly RPg Tactical Commentary: September’s market dynamics echoed August’s: China, US interest rates and energy prices dominated the news flow as volatility escalated globally. High correlations persisted in Europe and EM and other international developed markets. The frustrating market environment for momentum based strategies continues given choppy sector performance, but we’re not alone in our frustration. (click here)
9/17/2015
Expanded Monthly Commentary RPg Tactical Global Balanced:
Given the escalation and sustained levels of volatility in the markets that begun mid-August, RPg Asset Management wanted to outline the shifts made in our strategies beyond our normal monthly update to help provide what we believe is valuable insight into our tactical methodology. (click here)
9/17/2015
Expanded Monthly Commentary RPg Tactical US Equity:
Given the escalation and sustained levels of volatility in the markets that begun mid-August, RPg Asset Management wanted to outline the shifts made in our strategies beyond our normal monthly update to help provide what we believe is valuable insight into our tactical methodology. (click here)
9/10/2015
White Paper: Evolution of Liquid Alternatives When it comes to diversifying an investment portfolio, the lyrics from the classic song by The Who – “Won’t Get Fooled Again” come to mind. The objective when allocating investment dollars really hasn’t changed, investors are still looking for solutions to maximize returns and reduce risk. The way we seek to accomplish this objective, however, has evolved. The goal remains the same: marrying an acceptable amount of risk with an acceptable and sometimes necessary amount of return. (click here)
8/11/2015
Monthly RPg Tactical Commentary: Rebounding from a risk-off June in the US equity markets, July responded with the S&P 500 rallying back extending the whipsaw environment that began in early 2014. Additionally, persistently soft global demand along with U.S. Dollar strength has increased levels of volatility globally, which many don’t expect to subside unless the US Fed cools its hawkish rhetoric towards interest rates. (click here)
7/9/2015
Monthly RPg Tactical Commentary:
With Greece dominating the headlines, practically all equity markets have experienced higher levels of volatility and most markets have been driven by macro events rather than stock or sector specific effects.
(click here)
6/9/2015
Monthly RPg Tactical Commentary: We’ve noticed investors and commentators alike looking to time a correction in both the equity and fixed income markets. While tempting, we would suggest a more measured, as well as quantitative approach to getting off the tracks, if and when, a train is coming. (click here)
5/30/2015
White Paper: Insights on Diversification Diversification is the idea of mixing a wide variety of investments within a portfolio with the goal of smoothing out unsystematic risk events. Investors use this discipline so that the positive performance of some investments can neutralize the negative performance of others. Correlations of asset classes are a key factor in determining portfolio risk and will ultimately determine if a portfolio is truly diversified. (click here)
5/21/2015
Monthly RPg Tactical Commentary: The current bull market turned six years old on March 9th, the fourth longest and strongest in U.S. history in terms of S&P 500 gains. (click here)
4/21/2015
Quarterly RPg AlphaSector Commentary: Judging from the daily closing prices of the S&P 500 Index, U.S. equity markets have seesawed on a monthly basis during the first quarter of 2015. (click here)
4/8/2015
Monthly RPg Tactical Commentary: As we have previously conveyed, volatility seems to have arrived in the markets leading to a nine month period of one of our most challenging market environments as a tactical ETF Manager – the whipsaw environment. (click here)
3/16/2015
Flash RPg AlphaSector Commentary:
For the AlphaSector® methodology, the most important consideration impacting the investment decision making is volatility, followed by price trends. Volatility has not abated, and price momentum continues to trend negatively for many of the sectors evaluated for the True Volatility data. (click here)
2/2015
Monthly RPg Tactical Commentary: The US equity markets showed strength in February and the S&P 500 and DJIA hit new records for the first time in 2015, with the S&P having its best month since October 2011. Current allocations for the methodology, as of the end of February, continue to show a bullish posture (click here)
1/2015
Monthly RPg Tactical Commentary: While volatility seems to have arrived in the markets, the past month experienced a "risk off" environment with minimal changes made to previous allocations for the portfolios. Current sector allocations for the methodology, as of month end, are showing a bullish posture. (click here)
12/2014
Quarterly RPg Tactical Commentary: The "risk off/risk on" nature of the second half was one of the biggest contributors to the degree of frustration experienced by investors in 2014, and it certainly falls into the "Achilles heel" category within a tactical sector rotation strategy. (click here)
12/2014
Quarterly RPg AlphaSector Commentary: During the fourth quarter of 2014, there were four weeks in which the S&P 500 experienced a price movement of more than 3%. A weekly occurrence of such a move had not been experienced since the week that began with New Year’s Eve 2012. (click here)
12/2014
Clear View: Predicting the Future
(click here)
10/2014
Flash RPg AlphaSector Commentary: Ebola outbreaks, Middle East combat, Probable European recession, China economic slowdown, global energy recession. These are all major issues that can each cause a global market correction, and they are all happening at once. These are the significant issues of this fall, and the global markets have reacted accordingly. (click here)
10/2014
Quarterly RPg AlphaSector Commentary: In some ways, the third quarter ended as it began, with market levels generally only modestly changed from three months ago. In other ways, however, it was an eventful quarter. (click here)
7/2014
Quarterly RPg AlphaSector Commentary: Before the second quarter of 2014, it had been sixteen years since the S&P 500 was up more than five quarters in a row. (click here)
6/2014
White Paper: Client-Centric Investing: Utilizing Tactical Managers to Improve Risk/Return
(click here)
3/2014
Quarterly RPg AlphaSector Commentary
- The first quarter of 2014 saw modest advances in most markets. The S&P 500 continued its winning streak and posted its fifth consecutive quarterly gain. (click here)
2/2014
RPg AlphaSector Commentary
- Up here in the Northeast, after a long, tough winter, we are hoping that the weather in March will fulfill the old adage and come in like a lion and leave like a lamb. Fortuitously, the capital markets seem to be a month ahead (click here)
2/2014
RPg AlphaSector Commentary - The first month of 2014 has now ended and the contrast to 2013 could not be starker. The S&P 500 Index experienced its worst monthly showing since May of 2012. This result reflects a sharp reversal from 2013, where the S&P 500 Index (click here)
2/2014
Managing Risk: A Tactical Approach to Managing Investments Should Be The Cornerstone of the Retirement Conversation (click here)
2/2014
Managing Risk: Rethinking the Bond Market
(click here)
12/2013
Quarterly RPg AlphaSector Commentary - For the 4th quarter, the AlphaSector Premium Index was fully invested in seven or eight of the nine U.S. equity sectors with no short term treasury ETF. Consumer Staples was absent from the Index for most of October. (click here)
9/2013
Quarterly RPg AlphaSector Commentary - Compared with earlier in the year, the AlphaSector Premium Index was marginally less bullish, with seven or eight of nine sectors invested, as opposed to all nine for most of the first six months of 2013. (click here)
9/2013
Managing Risk:Why We Focus On Loss Avoidance (click here)
6/2013
Quarterly RPg AlphaSector Commentary - The AlphaSector Premium strategy entered the second quarter with all nine sectors engaged and exited the quarter the same way – however, five sectors moved closer to elimination by the end of the quarter. (click here)
3/2013
Managing Risk: The Importance of Risk Management in Investment Portfolios (click here)