The winning asset classes of 2023: Bitcoin and oil trade places
Midway through December, it’s time to revisit our asset-class “quilt” from last year. What were the winning and losing investments in 2023, and how do they compare to recent vintages?
Bitcoin was by far the best performer among the nine categories we selected, boosted by optimism that ETFs will soon allow more investors to trade cryptocurrency. It’s continuing its streak as the most “binary” asset since 2016 – either performing the best or worst in each calendar year; it trailed the pack in 2022.
Meanwhile, oil went from the best performer in 2022 (on the back of the Russia-Ukraine war) to the weakest performer in 2023 amid concerns about slowing economies and oversupply.
Equities had a strong year. Interestingly, there was little difference between “value” and “growth” stocks in the S&P 500; value held up much better than growth in last year’s bear market.