Leverage to deal flow and asset values: investment banking, trading, exchanges, alternatives and private credit, custody, and asset/wealth managers. The IPO/M&A re-opening trade — this basket front-runs announced deal volumes.
Follow the theme against the wider market.
Series before each basket's creation date are a backtest of the membership as of creation; live tracking starts at creation.
| Return | 1 day | 5 days | 20 days | 60 days | MTD | YTD | 1 year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basket | +1.2% | +3.1% | -1.6% | -3.8% | +1.7% | +5.0% | +10.5% |
| vs S&P 500 | +0.7% | +2.6% | -2.3% | -8.1% | +0.2% | -7.7% | -4.6% |
1y · 2025-10-21 – 2026-10-21 · 252 / 252 sessions
Basket total returns · Annualized using 252 trading sessions · 0% risk-free rate and downside target. As of 2026-10-21 · close.
Sharpe: average daily simple return divided by its sample standard deviation, multiplied by √252. The risk-free rate is assumed to be 0%; this is not a cash-adjusted ratio.
Sortino: average daily simple return divided by downside deviation, multiplied by √252. Downside deviation is the square root of the average squared shortfall below 0%, counting all sessions, including zeros for gains.
Historical volatility: √(252 × average squared daily log return), matching the Vol page’s realized-volatility convention. This differs from the sample standard deviation used in Sharpe.
Each period requires complete history and at least 5 sessions. MTD and YTD follow the calendar; 1y is 252 sessions. Missing data or an undefined ratio displays — with a reason. Short periods can produce unstable ratios; intraday snapshots include a partial session. History before this basket’s creation is backtested. If a new basket has no stored daily return series yet, estimates from its rounded published chart levels are marked ≈.
Current members and the reasoning behind each inclusion. Returns are for individual holdings.
| Why it’s included | Added | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CBOECboe Global Markets | Equity volatility franchise (SPX/VIX options) | +1.2% | +6.1% | +18.6% | +27.9% | 2026-06-11 |
| CMECME Group | Rates/futures volumes — monetizes volatility | +0.2% | +3.6% | +9.2% | +12.0% | 2026-06-11 |
| SPGIS&P Global | Ratings plus indices — issuance and AUM leverage | +1.2% | +8.5% | +9.0% | -14.6% | 2026-06-11 |
| MSCIMSCI | Index/analytics fees on global AUM | +2.2% | +7.8% | +8.8% | +6.5% | 2026-06-11 |
| BLKBlackRock | Flows + market-level beta | +1.9% | +7.1% | +8.4% | +9.2% | 2026-06-11 |
| MCOMoody's Corporation | Ratings: leveraged to debt issuance volumes | +1.2% | +4.0% | +1.5% | -5.2% | 2026-06-11 |
| ICE | Exchanges and listings; mortgage-tech kicker | -0.6% | +1.7% | +0.9% | -1.6% | 2026-06-11 |
| NDAQ | Listings window plus index/data fees | +1.4% | +4.5% | +0.7% | -0.0% | 2026-06-11 |
| TROWT. Rowe Price | Active asset-management flows cycle | +1.1% | +3.7% | -1.2% | +4.9% | 2026-06-11 |
| RJF | Mid-market wealth + IB | +0.3% | -1.0% | -1.3% | -1.7% | 2026-06-11 |
| BENFranklin Resources | Active AM flows with high operating leverage | +1.4% | +3.8% | -2.2% | +37.3% | 2026-06-11 |
| AMPAmeriprise Financial | Advice/wealth platform flows | +0.6% | -1.1% | -2.4% | +1.0% | 2026-06-11 |
| BNYBank of New York Mellon Corp | Largest global custodian | +1.1% | +6.0% | -2.4% | +27.2% | 2026-06-11 |
| GSGoldman Sachs | Purest large-cap IB/trading mix | +2.2% | +3.0% | -3.4% | +4.4% | 2026-06-11 |
| ARESAres Management Corporation | Private credit fundraising cycle | +0.6% | +4.0% | -3.7% | -25.1% | 2026-06-11 |
| NTRSNorthern Trust | Custody and wealth for institutions | +0.9% | +2.6% | -4.1% | +24.0% | 2026-06-11 |
| IVZInvesco | AM flows; QQQ franchise | +1.6% | +4.7% | -4.8% | +13.9% | 2026-06-11 |
| STTState Street Corporation | Custody and asset servicing scale | +1.4% | +1.2% | -5.6% | +34.1% | 2026-06-11 |
| MSMorgan Stanley | IB + wealth management ballast | +3.7% | +3.1% | -5.7% | +7.1% | 2026-06-11 |
| IBKRInteractive Brokers Group | Global electronic brokerage volumes | +2.9% | +1.4% | -6.8% | +33.1% | 2026-06-11 |
| KKRKKR | Alts + insurance balance sheet | +0.7% | +5.0% | -7.6% | -29.1% | 2026-06-11 |
| SCHWCharles Schwab Corporation | Retail engagement + NII torque | +0.8% | -5.3% | -7.9% | -7.4% | 2026-06-11 |
| BXBlackstone Inc. | Alts fundraising supercycle | -0.7% | +3.2% | -8.1% | -26.7% | 2026-06-11 |
| APO | Credit-heavy alts model | +0.4% | -1.5% | -10.2% | -21.9% | 2026-06-11 |
| HOODRobinhood Markets, Inc. | Retail trading flows; options/crypto volume torque | +3.8% | +0.8% | -16.9% | -9.9% | 2026-06-11 |
Partial price histories: HOOD from 2021-07-29.
Equal-weighted; monthly rebalance, buy-and-hold between rebalances; dated membership changes reset the target weights.
Tracked since 2026-06-11. Membership decisions are documented below.
Read the methodology →Basket returns include dividends. “vs S&P 500” compares the basket’s compounded growth with the benchmark’s. Green means positive; red means negative.
Cross-checked against KCE. Daily return correlation: 0.96 across 1710 sessions. modified equal weight across the same industry group, including mid-caps outside the index
FW 3000 pass: added EVR, LAZ, PJT, MC, HLI, JEF, LPLA, TW, VIRT, MKTX — names outside the S&P 500 but inside our broad universe; they count only in the FW 3000 version of this basket. Effective-dated to creation so the broad backtest covers the full set. The S&P 500 basket is unchanged.
Widening pass: added the exchanges (CME, ICE, NDAQ, CBOE), ratings/index complex (MCO, SPGI, MSCI), custody banks (STT, BNY, NTRS), traditional and alternative managers (TROW, BEN, IVZ, ARES), wealth (AMP), and retail brokers (HOOD, IBKR) — the full S&P 500 capital-markets industry group. Reference pinned to KCE. New members are effective-dated to basket creation so the backtest and the reference correlation cover the widened set (the basket was one day old, with no meaningful live history to restate).
Initial composition: banks, platforms, alternatives.