Everything is Beating the S&P 500 This Year

The S&P 500 is up 9.8% year-to-date, but many other asset classes are outperforming it, including small caps (+21.7%), value stocks (+15.1%), and emerging markets (+30.8%). This broad market strength marks a shift from previous concentration in a few tech stocks.

Through the close of markets on Monday, the S&P 500 ETF SPY was up 9.8% on the year. That’s a great return six months into the year. Surprisingly, it’s not the concentration at the top that’s carrying the returns anymore: The S&P 493 is outperforming the S&P 500 and the Mag 7 by a wide margin. Ironically, the hyperscalers spending so much money on AI could be benefitting the rest of the market to their own detriment. In fact, the S&P 500 is up around 10% this year despite the fact that companies like Microsoft, Meta, Oracle and more tech stocks are in relatively large corrections at the moment: You might also be surprised to know that all kinds of other asset classes and types of stocks are beating the S&P 500 this year. Here’s a list of the asset classes outperforming the S&P 500 in 2026 through the close on Monday: Small caps IWM +21.7% Value stocks VTV +15.1% Small cap value AVUV +20.9% Emerging markets EEM +30.8% REITs VNQ +10.3% Mid caps VO +11.3% Dividend stocks VYM +11.7% This is a welcomed change for diversified investors. For years people worried about concentration in the stock market and what it meant to have a handful of stocks powering the market. I’ve had countless conversations with investors who wondered why they shouldn’t just have all of their money invested in the S&P 500. Obviously, it’s not like the S&P 500 is having a bad year. It’s up almost 10% midway through the year But other asset classes are finally working. Emerging markets have now beaten the S&P 500 over the past three years: Small cap value has crushed the S&P since the Covid lows: Small cap stocks have been on fire from the Liberation Day lows: A Wealth of Common Sense is a blog that focuses on wealth management, investments, financial markets and investor psychology. I manage portfolios for institutions and individuals at Ritholtz Wealth Management LLC. More about me here. For disclosure information please see here. Get Some Common Sense Categories Get a Full Investor Curriculum: Join The Book List Every month you'll receive 3-4 book suggestions--chosen by hand from more than 1,000 books. You'll also receive an extensive curriculum books, articles, papers, videos in PDF form right away.