March 2026 brought a broad pullback across most asset classes to close out the first quarter. World Stocks fell -8.03% and U.S. Real Estate dropped -6.37%, while U.S. Stocks declined -4.93%. These losses pushed U.S. Stocks into negative territory for the year at -4.36%, while World Stocks held onto a slim +2.01% year-to-date gain despite the difficult month.
Commodities stood as the clear outlier on the March scoreboard, surging +24.23%. Building on gains of +10.49% in January and +1.88% in February, Commodities now lead all asset classes by a wide margin with a year-to-date return of +39.84% through the end of Q1.
Managed Futures slipped just -0.53% in March. One of the smaller declines on the scoreboard during a month when most risk assets fell sharply. Their year-to-date return remains at +7.35%, placing them second on the 2026 scoreboard behind Commodities and well ahead of the rest of the field.
Hedge Funds and Bonds also finished March in the red, declining -2.24% and -1.74% respectively. Both remain positive for the year, though narrowly, Hedge Funds at +1.82% and Bonds at just +0.05%. Cash continued its steady pace with another +0.31% monthly return, bringing its Q1 total to +0.92%. U.S. Real Estate, despite March’s decline, finished Q1 with a modest +1.00% year-to-date gain.
As Q1 closes, Commodities hold a commanding lead on the 2026 scoreboard, with Managed Futures in a clear second place. U.S. Stocks remain the only asset class in negative territory for the year.
Past performance is not indicative of future results.
Past performance is not indicative of future results.
Sources: Managed Futures = SocGen CTA Index,
Cash = US T-Bill 13 week coupon equivalent annual rate/12, with YTD the sum of each month’s value,
Bonds = Vanguard Total Bond Market ETF (NYSEARCA:BND),
Hedge Funds = IQ Hedge Multi-Strategy Tracker ETF (NYSEARCA:QAI)
Commodities = iShares S&P GSCI Commodity-Indexed Trust ETF (NYSEARCA:GSG);
Real Estate = iShares U.S. Real Estate ETF (NYSEARCA:IYR);
World Stocks = iShares MSCI ACWI ex-U.S. ETF (NASDAQ:ACWX);
US Stocks = SPDR S&P 500 ETF (NYSEARCA:SPY)
All ETF performance data from Y Charts