OneTrust Cookie Consent

Navigation

  • Skip to Content
  • Client Log In
  • Investor relations
  • Sustainability Institute
  • Subscribe
  • Contact us
  • Careers
  • Region
  • Go back to Main Menu
  • Client Log In
  • MSCI ONE
  • MSCI Client Support Site
  • Barra PortfolioManager
  • BarraOne
  • MSCI ESG Manager
  • MSCI ESG Direct
  • Global Index Lens
  • MSCI Real Assets Analytics Portal
  • RiskManager 3
  • CreditManager
  • RiskManager 4
  • Index Monitor
  • MSCI Datscha
  • MSCI Real Capital Analytics
  • Private i
  • Total Plan/Caissa
  • MSCI Wealth Manager (Fabric)
  • MSCI Carbon Markets
  • Go back to Main Menu
  • Region
  • China
  • India
  • Japan
Navigation

Navigation Menu

  • Our Clients
    • Go back to Main Menu
    • Our Clients
    • Asset Managers
      • Featured

        Insights on MSCI One
    • Asset Owners
      • Featured

        Institutional Client Designed Indexes (iCDIs)
    • Banks
      • Featured

        Total Portfolio Footprinting
    • Corporates
      • Featured

        ESG Trends to Watch
    • Hedge Funds
      • Featured

        Factor Models
    • Insurance Companies
      • Featured

        Total Portfolio Footprinting
    • Wealth Managers
      • Featured

        Visualizing Investment Data
  • Our Solutions
    • Go back to Main Menu
    • Our Solutions
    • Analytics
      • Go back to Our Solutions
      • Analytics
      • Analytics Overview
      • Risk Management
      • AI Portfolio Insights
      • Multi-asset Class Factor Models
      • Quantitative Investment Solutions
      • Fixed Income Analytics
      • Portfolio Management
      • Crowding Solutions
      • Regulatory Solutions
      • Managed Solutions
    • Climate Investing
      • Go back to Our Solutions
      • Climate Investing
      • Climate Investing Overview
      • Featured

        Implied Temperature Rise
      • Featured

        Trends 2025
      • Biodiversity
      • Carbon Markets
      • GeoSpatial Asset Intelligence
      • Portfolio Sustainability Insights
      • Real Estate Climate Solutions
    • Sustainable Investing
      • Go back to Our Solutions
      • Sustainable Investing
      • Sustainable Investing Overview
      • Featured

        Trends 2025
      • ESG Fund Ratings and Climate Search Tool
        • Featured

          ESG and Climate Funds in Focus
      • ESG Ratings
        • Featured

          What is ESG
      • Impact Solutions
        • Featured

          Role of Capital in the Net-Zero Revolution
      • Sustainability Reporting Services
      • Sustainability and Climate Regulatory Toolkit
        • Featured

          Role of Capital in the Net-Zero Revolution
    • Factor Investing
      • Go back to Our Solutions
      • Factor Investing
      • Factor Investing Overview
      • Featured

        MSCI Japan Equity Factor Model
      • Equity Factor Models
      • FactorLab
      • MSCI FaCS
      • Factor Indexes
    • Fixed Income
      • Go back to Our Solutions
      • Fixed Income
      • Fixed Income Overview
      • Fixed Income Analytics
      • Fixed Income Indexes
    • Private Capital
      • Go back to Our Solutions
      • Private Capital
      • Private Capital Overview
      • Featured

        Private Capital Benchmarks
      • Private i
      • Total Plan Manager (formerly Caissa)
      • Emissions Footprinting
      • Private Capital Indexes
      • Private Company Data Connect
    • Real Assets
      • Go back to Our Solutions
      • Real Assets
      • Real Assets Overview
      • Featured

        Real Estate Market Size
      • INCANS
      • Index Intel
      • Portfolio Services
      • Property Intel
      • Private Real Assets Indexes
      • Real Capital Analytics
    • Wealth Management
  • Indexes
    • Go back to Main Menu
    • Indexes
    • Featured

      Index Education
    • Featured

      Underlying Exchange Traded Products
    • Indexes Overview
    • By Category
      • Go back to Indexes
      • By Category
      • By Category Overview
      • Climate
      • Market Cap
      • Fixed Income
      • Client-Designed
      • Sustainability
      • Factor
      • Thematic
        • Featured

          Thematic Exposure Standard
      • Private Real Assets
      • Private Capital
    • Tools
      • Go back to Indexes
      • Tools
      • Tools Overview
      • Index Monitor
      • MSCI Index API
      • MSCI IndexMetrics®
      • Index Data Modules
      • Equity Index Constituents
      • Fixed Income Index Constituents
      • Index Profile Tool
      • Direct Indexing
    • Resources
      • Go back to Indexes
      • Resources
      • Resources Overview
      • Communications
      • Education
      • Equity Factsheets
      • Derivatives
      • Methodology
      • Performance
      • Regulation
  • Research & Insights
    • Go back to Main Menu
    • Research & Insights
    • Featured

      Navigating Uncertainty: Tariff Implications
    • Featured

      In Focus
    • Research & Insights
      • Go back to Research & Insights
      • Research & Insights
      • Research & Insights Overview
      • Carbon Markets
      • Climate
      • Equities
      • Factor Investing
      • Fixed Income
      • Multi-Asset Class
      • Private Capital
      • Real Estate
      • Sustainability
    • Events
      • Go back to Research & Insights
      • Events
      • Events Overview
      • Featured

        Upcoming climate events
      • On Demand
  • Discover MSCI
    • Go back to Main Menu
    • Discover MSCI
    • About Us
      • Featured

        2022 Annual Report
    • Technology
      • Go back to Discover MSCI
      • Technology
      • Technology Overview
      • Data Explorer
      • Developer Community
      • Technology and Data
    • Corporate Responsibility
      • Go back to Discover MSCI
      • Corporate Responsibility
      • Corporate Responsibility Overview
      • Enabling Sustainable Investing
      • Environmental Sustainability
      • Governance Practices
      • Social Practices
      • Sustainability Reports and Policies
    • Inclusion & Belonging
    • Media Room
    • Our Leadership
      • Featured

        Henry A. Fernandez
    • Recognition
  • Client Log In
  • Investor relations
  • Sustainability Institute
  • Subscribe
  • Contact us
  • Careers
  • Region
  • Go back to Main Menu
  • Client Log In
  • MSCI ONE
  • MSCI Client Support Site
  • Barra PortfolioManager
  • BarraOne
  • MSCI ESG Manager
  • MSCI ESG Direct
  • Global Index Lens
  • MSCI Real Assets Analytics Portal
  • RiskManager 3
  • CreditManager
  • RiskManager 4
  • Index Monitor
  • MSCI Datscha
  • MSCI Real Capital Analytics
  • Private i
  • Total Plan/Caissa
  • MSCI Wealth Manager (Fabric)
  • MSCI Carbon Markets
  • Go back to Main Menu
  • Region
  • China
  • India
  • Japan

Main Search

Popular searches:
ACWI Research ESG Factor Investment Insights Gallery Asset Owners
Might interest you:
Changing Sectors, Changing Correlations

Extended Viewer

 

Changing Sectors, Changing Correlations

 

Ashish Lodh, Ana Harris, and Fotios Kassianidis
February 16, 2022

When considering new sector exposures in their portfolios, investors can review correlations between existing and potential allocations to better understand whether these sectors’ returns moved in the same direction or if exhibited a differentiated return pattern. The correlation measure ranges from -1 to +1; the closer it is to +1, the more correlated the investments being measured.

The first chart below shows the long-term active-return correlation between the MSCI World Sector Indexes for the last 20-plus years. The sectors are grouped into cyclical — those that have been highly correlated with the macro economy — and defensive—those that have had lower correlations with the macro economy — sectors. Perhaps not surprisingly, sectors within each group tended to be more correlated to each other while sectors across groups had lower correlations.

However, one sector does stand out. Communication services sector index showed more negative correlations for sector indexes within the cyclical group, than it did with defensive sectors.

If we look at rolling 3-year correlations for communication services, we can actually see it changing. The second chart shows the correlation of communications services’ excess returns between compared to information technology (IT) and consumer staples. While the former correlation shifted from negative to positive, the latter was positive (even above 0.60 at one point) but turned negative. Why is this?

In September 2018, the Global Industry Classification Standard (GICS®)1 underwent its biggest structural change since its creation, when the telecommunication services sector was significantly broadened and was renamed communication services. This change reflected the fact that the way people communicate, share information and entertain themselves has fundamentally changed as a result of the rapid convergence between technology, media and telecom. At that time, the new communication services sector moved from the defensive to the cyclical category, and out of the MSCI’s Defensive Sector Indexes to the MSCI’s Cyclical Sector Indexes. Illustrating the impact of this shift: While in August 2018, the top two stocks in the telecommunication services sector were Verizon and AT&T, in December 2018, the top two stocks in the communication services sector were Alphabet and Facebook.

While this is an extreme example, the takeaway of this analysis is that investors need to be mindful how sectors may evolve through time and how that may affect their behavior. While most of the excess return correlations retained the same direction (positive or negative), they have fluctuated over time. Investors looking into these correlations may want to complement their analysis with a time dimension.

Correlations Over Time

Correlations Over Time


1 GICS, the global industry classification standard jointly developed by MSCI and S&P Global Market Intelligence.

Related Content

Global Investing Trends

You’ll find insights provided in research papers, blogs and a Chart of the Week that succinctly puts topical issues in context.

Explore More

Sector Leaderboard Changed as Inflation Picked Up

U.S. Fed Chairman, Jerome Powell, has made it official: We can no longer label the period of current inflation as transitory. The Fed left interest rates unchanged in January, and Chairman counselled patience about next steps.

Read More

Have Sectors Driven Stock Returns?

When investors construct portfolios, they may do so based purely on bottom-up stock selection, or they may incorporate an element of top-down construction by adjusting the portfolio’s allocation to sectors, countries or factors.

Learn More

msci logo
  • Terms of Use
  • Legal
  • Modern Slavery Statement
  • Privacy notice
  • Index regulation
  • Locations
  • Cookies
  • Use of ISO standards
  • Site map
Subscribe Contact us
© 2025 MSCI Inc. All rights reserved

UtmAnalytics