Close to 85% of active U.S.equity funds including cheap stocks, small-caps and energy companies were trailing the S&P 500 this year as of Nov. 30, according to investment analysis platform MorningstarDirect, theWall Street Journal reported.
The S&P 500 has risen 23.4% from Nov. 30 and 29.3% year-to-date, according to data from Yahoo Finance. The S&P 500 tracks the performance of 500 large companies listed on stock exchanges in the United States.
"In the same period a year ago, 64% of such funds were running behind the S&P 500, according to Morningstar," the Journal reports. That share has risen to 85% a year later.
Stock categories that focus on small- and mid-cap companies had raced past the S&P 500 in fall last year, but the jump was short lived, the Journal reports, citing the S&P Dow Jones Indices.
Though small cap funds have had a strong year relative to their benchmarks, large-cap stocks have outpaced those gains sharply, the Journal report adds, referring to remarks from Morningstar Strategist Robby Greengold.
Money managers had hoped that the U.S. economic recovery from the pandemic, coupled with the meme-stock craze that started in January, would make 2021 an outlier.
The price of GameStop (GME) shares has risen eight times year-to-date to $147.79 from $17.25 on Jan. 4. Shares of AMC Entertainment (AMC) have risen from $2.01 on Jan 4. to $28.10 at the end of Tuesday's trading.
Meanwhile Bed Bath & Beyond (BBBY) shares fell 16% this year to $15.12 at Tuesday's close.
"This year's top-performing actively managed U.S. equity fund was the Bridgeway Small-Cap Value fund which posted a 61.5% return, according to Morningstar data through Dec. 15," Reuters reported separately.