IMPORTANT INFORMATION

 

The views expressed represent the opinions of RBC Rochdale, LLC, which are subject to change and are not intended as a forecast or guarantee of future results. Stated information is provided for informational purposes only and should not be perceived as personalized investment, financial, legal or tax advice or a recommendation for any security. It is derived from proprietary and non-proprietary sources that have not been independently verified for accuracy or completeness. While RBC Rochdale believes the information to be accurate and reliable, we do not claim or have responsibility for its completeness, accuracy or reliability. Statements of future expectations, estimates, projections and other forward-looking statements are based on available information and management’s view as of the time of these statements. Accordingly, such statements are inherently speculative as they are based on assumptions that may involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties. Actual results, performance or events may differ materially from those expressed or implied in such statements.

 

All investing is subject to risk, including the possible loss of the money you invest. As with any investment strategy, there is no guarantee that investment objectives will be met and investors may lose money. Diversification may not protect against market risk or loss. Past performance is no guarantee of future performance. 

 

There are inherent risks with equity investing. These risks include, but are not limited to, stock market, manager or investment style. Stock markets tend to move in cycles, with periods of rising prices and periods of falling prices.

 

There are inherent risks with fixed income investing. These risks may include interest rate, call, credit, market, inflation, government policy, liquidity or junkbond. When interest rates rise, bond prices fall.

 

Bloomberg risk is the weighted average risk of total volatilities for all portfolio holdings. Total Volatility per holding in Bloomberg is ex-ante (predicted) volatility that is based on the Bloomberg factor model.

 

Municipal securities: The yields and market values of municipal securities may be more affected by changes in tax rates and policies than similar income-bearing taxable securities. Certain investors’ incomes may be subject to the Federal Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) and taxable gains are also possible. Investments in the municipal securities of a particular state or territory may be subject to the risk that changes in the economic conditions of that state or territory will negatively impact performance. These events may include severe financial difficulties and continued budget deficits, economic or political policy changes, tax base erosion, state constitutional limits on tax increases and changes in the credit ratings.

 

Investing in international markets carries risks such as currency fluctuation, regulatory risks, economic and political instability. Emerging markets involve heightened risks related to the same factors as well as increased volatility, lower trading volume and less liquidity.  Emerging markets can have greater custodial and operational risks and less developed legal and accounting systems than developed markets.

 

Alternative investments carry higher risks than traditional assets, including illiquidity, valuation uncertainty, leverage, manager execution risk, and concentration.

 

RBC Rochdale, LLC is an SEC-registered investment adviser and wholly-owned subsidiary of City National Bank. Registration as an investment adviser does not imply any level of skill or expertise. City National Bank is a subsidiary of Royal Bank of Canada. 

 

© 2026 RBC Rochdale, LLC. All rights reserved.

 

 

INDEX DEFINITIONS

 

Bloomberg Global Aggregate Total Return Index is a flagship benchmark measuring the performance of global investment-grade fixed-income securities, including government, corporate and securitized fixed-rate bonds from both developed and emerging markets. It tracks broad-based debt across over 27 local currencies, offering a comprehensive view of the global bond market.

 

Bloomberg High-Yield Corporate OAS Index provides a dynamic pricing measure, subtracting the cost of embedded options (like call features) from the total yield spread to the risk-free rate. It is used to evaluate the market’s perceived risk of default in the high-yield sector, which usually widens during economic distress.

 

Bloomberg High-Yield Energy Index is a subset of the Bloomberg US Corporate High-Yield Bond Index, tracking USD-denominated, fixed-rate, taxable corporate bonds rated below investment grade (Ba1/BB+/BB+ or below) specifically from issuers in the energy sector.

 

Bloomberg High-Yield Technology Index is a specialized subset of the broader Bloomberg High-Yield Bond Index, tracking fixed-rate, USD-denominated, non-investment grade (junk) corporate bonds issued specifically by technology companies. 

 

Bloomberg Intermediate Municipal Bond Index is a rules-based, market-value-weighted index tracking the performance of USD-denominated, investment-grade, tax-exempt bonds with intermediate maturities.

 

Bloomberg Magnificent 7 Index is an equal-dollar weighted equity benchmark tracking Nvidia, Tesla, Meta, Amazon, Alphabet, Apple, and Microsoft.

 

Bloomberg Municipal Bond Index Total Return Index Value Unhedged USD (Ticker: LMBITR:IND) is a flagship benchmark measuring the performance of the long-term, USD-denominated, tax-exempt U.S. municipal bond market. It tracks investment-grade general obligation and revenue bonds, unhedged for currency risk.

 

Bloomberg U.S. Intermediate Corporate Bond Index is a market-value-weighted index that tracks investment-grade, fixed-rate, taxable USD-denominated corporate bonds with maturities between 1 and 9.999 years.

 

Bloomberg U.S. Treasury Total Return Unhedged USD Index (Ticker: LUATTRUU:IND) is a widely used benchmark tracking the performance of USD-denominated, fixed-rate, nominal US Treasury debt, excluding bills. It measures total returns—price changes plus reinvested income—for U.S. government obligations with at least one year to maturity, often used as a core investment performance metric.

 

Bloomberg US BDC Aggregate Eligible Index (Ticker: BDCUSAGG) is a specialized sub-index of the Bloomberg US Aggregate Index, launched in October 2025 (with data backfilled to January 2022) to track the performance of investment-grade, USD-denominated, fixed-rate taxable bonds issued by Business Development Companies (BDCs).

 

Broadly Syndicated Loans (BSLs) in the Morningstar/LSTA U.S. Leveraged Loan Index are large-scale, senior secured corporate loans made to below-investment-grade companies.

 

Goldman Sachs Cyclicals Basket (such as the Goldman Sachs S&P 500 Cyclicals Basket, ticker often referenced as GSXUCYCL or GSPUCYDE) is a proprietary, curated group of equities highly sensitive to economic growth trends. It tracks companies whose earnings expand or contract heavily with macroeconomic business cycles.

 

Goldman Sachs S&P 500 Defensives Basket is a curated portfolio of large-cap U.S. equities designed to withstand economic slowdowns, market volatility, and recessions. It groups together major S&P 500 companies that feature steady earnings, inelastic demand, and resilient balance sheets less tied to economic cycles.

 

Private Credit (Cliffwater CDLI Indices): The Cliffwater Direct Lending Index (CDLI) is an asset-weighted, quarterly index measuring the unlevered, gross-of-fees performance of U.S. middle-market corporate loans held by Business Development Companies (BDCs).

 

Russell 1000 Growth Index measures large-cap U.S. companies with higher-than-average growth orientation, featuring top holdings like NVIDIA, Apple, and Alphabet. It tracks roughly 368 holdings with a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.16 and a dividend yield of 0.50%.

 

Russell 1000 Value Index tracks large- and mid-cap U.S. value stocks featuring lower price-to-book ratios and lower forecasted growth. It is fully reconstituted by FTSE Russell every June and trades at a 12-month forward price-to-earnings ratio of roughly 18.

 

Russell 2000® Index is a market capitalization-weighted index measuring the performance of the small-cap segment of the U.S. equity universe and includes the smallest 2,000 companies in the Russell 3000® Index.

 

S&P 100 Index is a stock market index of 100 major, ultra-large-cap U.S. blue-chip companies. Maintained by S&P Dow Jones Indices, it is a subset of the broader S&P 500 and represents industry leaders across multiple sectors weighted by float-adjusted market capitalization.

 

S&P 400 (officially the S&P MidCap 400) is a stock market index that tracks 400 mid-sized U.S. companies, serves as a market benchmark, and measures mid-cap stock performance. Managed by S&P Dow Jones Indices, it helps investors gauge the health of mid-sized businesses.

 

S&P 500 Equal Weight Index (EWI) is the equal-weight version of the standard S&P 500. It contains the exact same 500 stocks, but instead of weighting companies by market size, it gives every company a fixed weight of 0.2% at each quarterly rebalance.

 

S&P 500 Index, or Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, is a market-capitalization-weighted index of 500 leading publicly traded companies in the U.S. It is not an exact list of the top 500 U.S. companies by market cap because there are other criteria that the index includes.

 

S&P 600 (or S&P SmallCap 600) is a stock market index that tracks small-capitalization U.S. companies, emphasizing profitability and liquidity requirements. Launched on October 28, 1994, it covers roughly 600 to 603 small-cap components selected by S&P Dow Jones Indices.

 

S&P Composite 1500 Communication Services Index tracks the performance of communication services companies across large-cap, mid-cap, and small-cap U.S. markets. It is a float-adjusted, market-capitalization-weighted index that captures large, medium, and small companies grouped together under the Global Industry Classification Standard (GICS).

 

S&P Composite 1500 Consumer Discretionary Index tracks large, mid, and small cap U.S. companies in the consumer discretionary sector. It covers non-essential goods like cars, retail, and entertainment. It combines the S&P 500, MidCap 400, and SmallCap 600 sector pieces to measure total market trends.

 

S&P Composite 1500 Consumer Staples Index tracks U.S. large-, mid-, and small-cap companies in essential goods industries, such as food, beverages, household items, and personal care. It acts as a broad benchmark for defensive, non-cyclical market performance across the entire S&P Composite 1500 universe.

 

S&P Composite 1500 Consumer Staples Index tracks U.S. large-, mid-, and small-cap companies in essential goods industries, such as food, beverages, household items, and personal care. It acts as a broad benchmark for defensive, non-cyclical market performance across the entire S&P Composite 1500 universe.

 

S&P Composite 1500 Financials Index tracks all companies in the S&P Composite 1500 that belong to the Global Industry Classification Standard (GICS) Financials sector. It combines large-cap, mid-cap, and small-cap U.S. stocks involved in banking, finance, insurance, and investment services.

 

S&P Composite 1500 Health Care Index tracks the performance of healthcare companies within the broader S&P Composite 1500, which covers large-cap, mid-cap, and small-cap US equities. It serves as a benchmark for the healthcare sector, utilizing a float-adjusted market capitalization weighting scheme.

 

S&P Composite 1500 Industrials Index measures the performance of large-, mid-, and small-cap U.S. companies within the industrials sector. It tracks all stocks from the S&P Composite 1500 that belong to the Industrials Sector based on the Global Industry Classification Standard (GICS).

 

S&P Composite 1500 Information Technology Index tracks all U.S. companies in the S&P Composite 1500 that belong to the Global Industry Classification Standard (GICS) information technology sector. It covers large-, mid-, and small-cap stocks, using a float-adjusted market capitalization weighting system.

 

S&P Composite 1500 Materials Index tracks the performance of materials companies within the broad S&P Composite 1500. It includes large-cap, mid-cap, and small-cap U.S. equities classified under the GICS materials sector, covering chemicals, construction materials, metals, mining, and paper products.

 

S&P Composite 1500 Real Estate Sector Index tracks the performance of U.S. real estate companies across large, mid, and small-cap tiers. It includes all companies in the S&P Composite 1500 classified under the Global Industry Classification Standard (GICS) real estate sector, such as equity REITs.

 

S&P Composite 1500 Utilities Index tracks the performance of utility companies within the broader S&P Composite 1500. It includes large-cap, mid-cap, and small-cap U.S. equities classified under the Global Industry Classification Standard (GICS) Utilities sector, such as electric, gas, and water companies.

 

S&P MidCap 400 Index (or S&P 400) is a benchmark index tracking 400 mid-sized U.S. companies, acting as a barometer for the mid-cap market segment.

 

S&P SmallCap 600® (S&P 600) is a stock market index maintained by S&P Dow Jones Indices that measures the performance of 600 small-capitalization U.S. companies.

 

U.S. Cyclicals, the Goldman Sachs S&P 500 Cyclicals Basket is a curated group of companies within the S&P 500 index that are highly sensitive to the economic cycle. These companies are selected because their revenues and profits tend to grow significantly during economic expansions and shrink during recessions.

 

U.S. Defensives: the Goldman Sachs S&P 500 Defensives Basket is a curated group of sectors that provide consistent earnings and dividends regardless of the economic cycle, used to protect portfolios during downturns.

 

U.S. Equal Weight Index typically refers to the S&P 500 Equal Weight Index (EWI), which contains the exact same constituents as the traditional S&P 500 but weights each company equally at 0.2% during each quarterly rebalance, rather than by market capitalization.

 

U.S. Growth: The Russell 1000 Growth Index (^RLG) measures the performance of large-capitalization U.S. growth stocks, representing about 60% technology, 17% consumer discretionary and significant holdings in health care.

 

U.S. Large-Cap Index is a financial benchmark that tracks the performance of the largest publicly traded companies in the United States, typically those with a market capitalization of $10 billion or more. These indexes serve as core portfolio holdings to measure the broader U.S. stock market.

 

U.S. Mega-Cap Index is a financial benchmark designed to track the performance of the largest publicly traded companies in the United States. It typically targets companies with market capitalizations generally exceeding $200 billion, representing the top 70% of the investable U.S. equity market.

 

U.S. Value: The Russell 1000 Value Index measures the performance of U.S. large-cap equity securities with lower price-to-book ratios and lower expected growth rates, subset from the Russell 1000 Index.

 

 

TERM DEFINITIONS

 

"Higher-for-longer" is a monetary policy and economic term indicating that central banks intend to keep interest rates elevated for an extended period. Rather than quickly cutting rates once inflation cools, policymakers maintain higher rates to ensure economic stability and prevent inflation from rebounding.

 

"The Magnificent 7" in finance refers to a group of seven dominant, high-performing American technology companies: Alphabet (Google's parent company), Amazon, Apple, Meta Platforms (Facebook and Instagram), Microsoft, Nvidia, and Tesla.

 

A basis point (BPS) is used to indicate changes in the int erest rates of a financial instrument. Basis points are typically expressed with the abbreviations “bp,” “bps,” or “bips.”

 

A large-cap stock is the stock of a company with a large market capitalization, generally considered to be over $10 billion.

 

An IPO (Initial Public Offering) is the process where a private company first sells shares of its stock to the public. Commonly known as "going public," it allows businesses to raise capital for expansion, pay off debt, or allow early investors to cash out.

 

A small-cap stock is the stock of a company with a relatively small market capitalization, generally defined as being between $300 million and $2 billion.

 

bifurcation refers to the splitting of a single financial or market path into two distinct, diverging categories or outcomes.

 

ICE BofA (or formerly ICE BofAML), is a leading family of financial market indices that track the performance of bonds, fixed-income securities, and other global assets. These indices are maintained by ICE Data Indices, a subsidiary of the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE).

 

Moody's (Moody's Corporation) is a global financial services company that assesses the risk of borrowing and lending money. It operates in two main divisions: Moody's Ratings, which grades the creditworthiness of companies and governments (from Aaa down to C), and Moody's Analytics, which provides economic data, risk management software, and financial research.

 

RBC Rochdale Proprietary Quality Ranking formula: 40% Dupont Quality (return on equity adjusted b y debt levels), 15% Earnings Stability (volatility of earnings), 15% Revenue Stability (volatility of revenue), 15% Cash Earnings Quality (cash flow vs. net income of company) 15% Balance Sheet Quality (fundamental strength of balance sheet).

 

*Source: RBC Rochdale proprietary ranking system utilizing MSCI and FactSet data. 

 

**Rank is a percentile ranking approach whereby 100 is the highest possible score and 1 is the lowest. The RBC Rochdale Core compares the weighted average holdings of the str ategy to the companies in the S&P 500 on a sector basis. As of September 30, 2022. RBC Rochdale proprietary ranking system utilizing MSCI and FactSet data.

 

The price-to-earnings ratio (P/E ratio) is the ratio for valuing a company that measures its current share price relative to its earnings per share (EPS).

 

The strait, The Strait of Hormuz, is a narrow, vital chokepoint between Iran and Oman connecting the Persian Gulf with the Gulf of Oman.

 

YoY, or year-over-year, is a metric that compares a company's or economic indicator's performance in a specific period (like a quarter or a full year) to the same period in the previous year.