Annualized returns are for January 1, 1988 through October 7, 2024. Comparable annualized returns for the S&P 500 are +11.0%
The performance reported is the equal weighted performance of a hypothetical portfolio consisting of stocks with a Zacks Rank of #1 that was rebalanced monthly or weekly from January 1988 through October 7, 2024.
The portfolio was rebalanced monthly from January 1988 through December 2013 and weekly from 12/31/13 through Monday's open on October 7, 2024.
For each stock with a Zacks Rank #1 at the beginning of the month, the total return during the month was calculated as the % change in the price of the stock from the closing price of the prior month to the closing price of the current month plus any dividends received during the month. The monthly individual stock returns were then averaged to determine the portfolio return for the month.
For each stock with a Zacks Rank #1 at the beginning of the week, the total return during the week was calculated as the % change in the price of the stock from the opening price for the week to the opening price of the next week plus any dividends received during the week. The weekly individual stock returns were then averaged to determine the portfolio return for the week.
If no month-end price or week end open price was available for a stock, it was not included in the portfolio return for the month or the week.
The monthly and weekly returns were compounded to arrive at the annual returns.
The annualized return is the annual return that, had it been achieved in each year or portion of a year, would have compounded to create the total return over the full time period.
The weekly returns during the month were compounded to arrive at the monthly returns by utilizing the first Monday open of the month as the first week of the month through the first Monday open of the next month as the final week of the month.
These returns are not based on a backtest. They are based on the list of Zacks Rank #1 Stocks that was available to clients of Zacks as of the beginning of the month, when returns were calculated monthly, or as of the beginning of the week when returns were calculated weekly.
These returns are higher than the returns an investor could achieve investing real money in a portfolio of Zacks Rank #1 stocks because the returns of the hypothetical Zacks Rank #1 portfolio exclude a number of costs, including commissions incurred for trading, the average bid ask spread, the price impact of the trading and, prior to 2013, in those months when the end of the month fell on Friday, Saturday or Sunday, the overnight return from the month end close to the open on the next trading day.
The universe of companies for which Zacks Rank #1 performance is reported has changed over time. The portfolios of Zacks #1 Ranked stocks created monthly from 1988 through 1995 exclude ADRs, exclude Canadian companies trading only on Canadian Exchanges, exclude companies trading on the OTC Bulletin Board and exclude companies followed by only one analyst. From 1996 through 2007 the portfolios exclude ADRs, exclude Canadian companies trading only on Canadian exchanges and exclude companies trading on the OTC Bulletin Board, but include companies followed by only one analyst. From 2008 and going forward the portfolios are comprised of all stocks with the indicated Zacks Rank which is more reflective of the list of stocks that customers will find on the Zacks websites.
The S&P 500 is an unmanaged index. The annual S&P 500 returns in this table for the years 2016, 17, 18 differ by +2.8%, -.4% and +.6% from the S&P 500 returns shown. The S&P 500 returns shown for these periods are total returns of the IVV S&P 500 Index Fund and the returns are shown for 364 day periods that begin at the first Monday open of each year for years 2016, 17 and 18. Similarly the S&P 500 returns for the months are IVV returns for the 28 or 35 day periods that begin at the open on the first Monday of each month.
The Zacks Rank #1 performance schedule for the period from April 2, 2018 through March 31, 2022 was examined by PKF Mueller, an independent accounting firm, who concluded that the Zacks Rank #1 performance schedule is presented in accordance with the criteria established by Zacks, in all material respects. The Zacks #1 Rank Performance from January 1, 1988 through Monday's open on April 2, 2018 was examined and attested by Baker Tilly Virchow Krause, LLP, an independent accounting firm.