Dividend and value funds top US equity charts year

Dividend and value-focused funds are topping the performance charts so far in the first quarter of 2026, according to data compiled by FSA. US equities have been on a tear over the past few years, with the S&P 500 index delivering three consecutive years of double-digit returns, up 26.3% in 2023, 25% in 2024 and 17.9% in 2025. After a strong run in performance, investor anxiety began to build about the concentration of the S&P 500 index and a narrative of an investor rotation out of US assets started to gain traction. So, when the conflict in Iran escalated, causing the price of oil to soar and bond yields to jump, investors fled riskier assets, including US equities. However, there are several US equity funds that are still positive year-to-date and outperforming the rest of their peers. Below, FSA looks at 20 of the best performing US equity funds of the first quarter of 2026 available for distribution in either Hong Kong or Singapore, according to data from FE fundinfo. | Fund | YTD Performance (%) | | VanEck Durable High Dividend ETF | 10.92 | | iShares Core High Dividend ETF | 10.85 | | GQG Partners U.S. Equity | 8.8 | | Smead US Value UCITS | 8.01 | | iShares Select Dividend ETF | 7.83 | | iShares Edge MSCI USA Value Factor UCITS ETF | 6.24 | | Xtrackers S&P 500 Inverse Daily Swap UCITS ETF | 6.1 | | NB US Large Cap Value | 6 | | Edmond de Rothschild EDRF US Value | 5.59 | | State Street SPDR S&P Dividend ETF | 5.49 | | SSGA State Street SPDR S&P U.S. Dividend Aristocrats UCITS ETF | 5.33 | | iShares S&P Mid Cap 400 Growth ETF | 5.1 | | Amundi FCH Neuberger Berman US Large Cap Value | 5.02 | | iShares Russell Midcap Value ETF | 4.37 | | Invesco S&P 500 High Dividend Low Volatility UCITS ETF | 4.13 | | DWS Invest Croci US Dividends | 3.6 | | Heptagon Yacktman US Equity | 3.41 | | iShares Core S&P MidCap | 3.37 | | Barrow Hanley US Mid Cap Value | 3.24 | | Cullen US Enhanced Equity Income | 3.19 | Most of the best performing US equity funds were dividend-focused exchange-traded-funds (ETFs) or actively managed strategies with a value investment approach. Three of the top five performing funds were dividend ETFs. These ETFs have a high weighting to US-listed oil giants Exxon Mobil and Chevron Corp which have performed well after the oil shock caused by the conflict. A handful of midcap funds have also performed well year-to-date, such as the iShares Russell Midcap Value ETF and Barrow Hanley US Mid Cap Value fund. Actively managed value strategies, such as Smead US Value, NB US Large Cap Value and Heptagon Yacktman US Equity also stand out as top performers relative to their peers. These funds all follow a value approach, generally buying out of favour stocks at below their estimate of intrinsic value. They were up 8%, 6% and 3.4% respectively GQG Partners US Equity also features in the list, once a top performer that lagged in 2025 amidst a bearish call on the artificial intelligence rally, but has since started the year strong, up 8.8% year-to-date.