Historical Sector Weightings of the S&P 500

Last week we highlighted the current sector weights of the S&P 500.  To expand on that post, we looked at their historical weightings on a yearly basis back to 1990 to see how the makeup of the index has changed.  These weightings and their trends factor in our asset allocation process for our money management services.  The area chart below highlights the historical weightings (%) of all ten sectors.  Slow changes in these weightings offer a good long term picture of the changing economic landscape in the US.  But fast changes in these weightings are a sign that things have gotten out of whack.  It's easy to see technology's big pickup in 1999 and its subsequent drop.  Financials have grown since 1990, but this year their weighting has declined some.  Even still, the sector remains the largest in the index at 20%.  Both the Consumer Staples and Consumer Discretionary sectors have seen their weightings decline over the years.  In the early 90s, the Consumer Discretionary sector was the largest in the index.  It currently ranks fifth.  With the rise in oil prices over the past few years, the Energy sector has also seen its weight increase.  But back in 1990, the sector made up an even larger percentage of the S&P than it does today.

Below we provide yearly S&P 500 weighting charts for each sector.  The blue line represents the actual weight (%) and the red line represents the average over the period.

   

Comments

[egghat]

Interesting! Technology just barely above average is a surprise as is the big drop in telecoms.

Bye egghat