Despite the European Central Bank’s (ECB) failure to introduce a large stimulus package at Christmas – which caused shares to slide – the S&P Europe 350 still managed to return 8.6% for the year.
According to Tim Edwards, senior director, index investment strategy at S&P Dow Jones Indices (S&PDJI), the ECB’s inaction led the S&P Europe 350 to lose 5.3% in December.
S&PDJI has today published the returns for its various indices over 2015 and, for the Europe 350 index, the strategies that performed best were quality (20%), momentum (18%), low volatility (16%) and growth (15%).
The S&P Europe SmallCap BMI index had a bumper year, returning a “whopping” 23%.
However, not all indices performed well. For example, the S&P United Kingdom lost 2.4% last year and Edwards says the index could be affected by volatility this year around Britain’s uncertain EU membership.
Energy and materials were the only European equity sectors to record a loss for the year.
©2016 funds europe
