US High-Quality Strategy: Rising Market Risk Favors USHQ

The US High-Quality (USHQ) portfolio slightly outperformed in January, returning 3.4%, whilst its SPY benchmark returned 2.9%. That said, we think the USHQ portfolio will have a solid run through the first half of 2025, benefitting from rising market risk on the back of President Trump’s tariff agenda. USHQ’s underlying Quality and Safety Score factor tilts will be increasingly favored as market uncertainty grows.