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United Asset Strategies Quarterly Letter: 4Q2025
Last year offered another reminder that markets often climb a wall of worry.
While tariff related concerns triggered a sharp pullback early in the year, as
shown in Exhibit 1, the S&P 500 still managed to finish 2025 with a strong
18% total return, with the fourth quarter representing a third straight
quarter of gains and 2025 marking the third consecutive year of double-digit
returns. Although policy uncertainty limited the broad market participation
many had expected for the year, with the average stock again lagging, this
was more than offset by artificial intelligence (AI) related optimism as the
Great 8 (Magnificent 7 plus Broadcom) continued to lead markets higher. To
that end, we saw continued outperformance for the tech sector and growth
stocks for the full year. Fixed income also had a strong year, benefiting from
lower interest rates, with the Bloomberg Agg generating over 7% returns
and now comfortably in positive territory since its 2022 drawdown.