Wilshire 5000® Ends 2020 up $6.9 Trillion, Positive Performance Last Three Quarters Fuels All-time Second Largest Annual Gain

— Growth Stocks Dominate, Both Before and After COVID-19 Crash —

— Wilshire Large-Cap Growth Repeats 2019 as Best Performing Index of the Year —

SANTA MONICA, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–The Wilshire 5000 Total Market Index^SM, definitive benchmark for the U.S. stock market, rose 4.48 percent in December, 14.47 percent in the fourth quarter and 20.82 percent for the year, closing 2020 at an all-time record high of 39,081.44, according to Wilshire Associates (Wilshire®), a diversified global financial services firm. Without dividends reinvested, the index gained an estimated market value of $1.7 trillion for December, $5.2 trillion for the quarter and all-time second best annual dollar gain of $6.9 trillion for 2020.

The index set 39 record closing highs in 2020, with two-thirds of them following the COVID-19 March low and more than a quarter of them falling in December alone.

“The combination of coordinated government stimulus and Fed monetary easing facilitated a remarkable recovery in economic growth, and strong equity performance on a global basis. Despite the recent surge in COVID-19 cases and potential short-term economic consequences, positive investor sentiment has been supported by the approval and distribution of multiple vaccines, as well as additional government stimulus,” said Jason Schwarz, Chief Operating Officer of Wilshire Associates.

Small-cap outperformed large-cap in December, as represented by the Wilshire US Small-Cap Index^SM and Wilshire US Large-Cap Index^SM, with gains of 8.35 percent and 4.14 percent, respectively. Outperformance four months in a row further increased outperformance in the fourth quarter with gains of 30.96 and 13.19 percent, respectively. However, large-cap outperformed small-cap for the year for the fourth year in a row with gains of 21.17 and 17.42 percent, respectively.

Large-cap growth outperformed large-cap value in December, as represented by the Wilshire US Large-Cap Growth Index^SM and Wilshire US Large-Cap Value Index^SM, with gains of 4.83 and 3.44 percent, respectively; meanwhile, large-cap value outperformed large-cap growth for the quarter, gaining 13.62 and 12.77 percent, respectively. Strong monthly outperformance early on, and for three-quarters of 2020, cemented large-cap growth as repeat best performing index in 2020, gaining 35.36 percent. Large cap value returned 7.37 percent for the year.

Small-cap growth outperformed small-cap value for the tenth month this year, as represented by the Wilshire US Small-Cap Growth Index^SM and Wilshire US Small-Cap Value Index^SM, with gains of 9.04 and 7.65 percent in December. While small-cap growth trailed small-cap value for the quarter with gains of 29.73 and 32.20 percent, it outperformed for the year, gaining 29.66 and 6.16 percent, respectively.

Sectors

All sectors were positive for the second month in a row, and third time in more than thirty years.

Energy fell from top to third best performing sector in December, gaining 5.03 percent. While it was top performer for the quarter, gaining 29.14 percent, annual returns cemented Energy as worst performing sector for the fourth year in a row, falling -32.77 percent. Financials rose from third-best to best in December, gaining 6.66 percent, and landed as second-best performing sector for the quarter, returning 24.95 percent. Information Technology was the second-best performing sector in December with a gain of 6.01, nabbing second-best performing sector for the year with a 46.30 percent gain, just behind Consumer Discretionary, which topped all other sectors in 2020, gaining 47.06 percent.

Utilities repeated its turn as worst performing sector in December, gaining 0.97 percent, and second-worst for the quarter, gaining 7.84 percent. Consumer Staples repeated its turn as second-worst performing sector in December, rising 1.99 percent and cementing its position as the worst sector for the quarter, gaining 7.06 percent. Real Estate was the third-worst performing sector for the quarter, gaining 9.07 percent. For the year, Real Estate shed -4.44 percent to close as second- worst performing sector of 2020.

Risk Parity

Multi-asset class risk parity, as represented by the Wilshire Risk Parity – 10%, 12% and 15% Target Volatility Indexes^SM, rewarded higher risk in December and the fourth quarter with gains of 3.72, 4.31 and 5.23 percent, and 9.20, 10.96 and 13.66 percent, respectively. However, lower risk was rewarded for the year with returns of 3.38, 3.25 and 2.68 percent, respectively.

Real Estate

US public real estate, as represented by the Wilshire US Real Estate Securities Index^SM and Wilshire US Real Estate Investment Trust Index^SM, posted returns of 2.81 and 2.78 percent for the month, respectively to net 10.72 and 10.62 percent for the fourth quarter, respectively. 2020 posted net losses of -7.95 and -7.90 percent, respectively.

International public real estate, as represented by the Wilshire exUS Real Estate Securities Index^SM, posted a gain of 5.07 percent for the month, 19.27 percent for the quarter and a -9.04 percent loss for the year.

Fixed Income

Bonds, as represented by the Wilshire Bond Index^SM, rose 0.46 percent in December to net 1.96 percent for the quarter and 9.86 percent for 2020. Shorter duration bonds performed best for the month and worst for 2020. The Nuveen Wilshire Intermediate (5-10) Corporate Bond Index, Nuveen Wilshire Long (10-20) Corporate Bond Index, Nuveen Wilshire Long (20-30) Corporate Bond Index and Nuveen Wilshire Ultra Long (20+) STRIPS Index returned 0.38, 0.03, -0.23 and –1.65 percent, respectively for December; and 10.05, 12.16, 16.24 and 24.18 percent, respectively for 2020.

WILSHIRE INDEX RETURNS AT A GLANCE

DECEMBER WILSHIRE BEST AND WORST PERFORMING SECTORS BY INDEX

Q4 WILSHIRE BEST AND WORST PERFORMING SECTORS BY INDEX

2020 WILSHIRE BEST AND WORST PERFORMING SECTORS BY INDEX

All values as of December 31^st, 2020. Index values are in price values. All returns are total returns and reflect float-adjusted market capitalization. Returns are annualized for periods greater than one year.

About Wilshire Associates

Wilshire is a leading global financial services firm, dedicated to improving outcomes for investors worldwide. An independent firm since its founding in 1972, Wilshire advises on over $1.1 trillion in assets and manages $73 billion in assets. Specializing in innovative investment solutions, consulting services and multi-asset analytics, Wilshire serves more than 500 institutional and intermediary clients worldwide from 10 offices around the globe. For more information, please visit www.wilshire.com or follow us on Twitter: @WilshireAssoc

Contacts

Lisa Herbert
+1-310-899-5325 (O)
+1-310-728-5341 (C)
lherbert@wilshire.com