# How Ferrovial (FER) compares with the whole market and its popular alternatives

> Source: BetterThanSPY research, https://betterthanspy.com/research/fer
> Data as of November 2, 2026. Total returns include reinvested dividends. Past performance does not predict future results; nothing here is investment advice.

## The short answer

- **Returns:** +15.5% a year over the past 5 years, against +11.7% for the S&P 500. $10,000 grew to $31,700 over 10 years, against $42,000 in SPY.
- **Risk:** More volatile than the S&P 500: volatility 31.5% against 17.2%; worst decline in 10 years −38.9% against −33.7%.
- **Better options:** None of its 21 popular alternatives earned more with less volatility over the past 5 years.
- **Track record:** FER beat the S&P 500 in 7 of 13 full calendar years, and fell less than it in 4 of 6 major crashes.

Built by QuantCommons' quantitative engine, this page is about relative opportunity, not data on FER alone. It places FER (Ferrovial N.V.) against 20+ popular alternatives, its neighboring categories and the entire market of over 10,000 U.S.-listed stocks and ETFs, and surfaces what has done better on consistent outperformance, return for the risk taken, behavior in real market crashes and diversification. The result is a clearer view of where FER stands in the market, and of the alternatives worth a closer look.

Period covered: FER's full trading record, from August 2012 through October 2026. The crash tests reach back to 2000 using older funds and the S&P 500. All returns include reinvested dividends. Data as of November 2, 2026.

## Key findings

- **Right now:** Over the past 6 months, FER fell 15.1% while the S&P 500 rose 5.3%. FER is 22.4% below its high, bear-market territory, while the S&P 500 sits 3.5% below a record.
- **Stock or market?:** The weakness is FER's own: it fell 13.5% over the past 3 months while the infrastructure ETF IGF (iShares Global Infrastructure ETF) fell 0.9%. The S&P 500 fell 0.5%. Its infrastructure peers did not move as one over the past 3 months: J (Jacobs Solutions) rose 15.8%, while DY (Dycom Industries) fell 46.7%.
- **Past 1 to 3 years:** FER has gone against the market, falling 7.4% over the past year while the S&P 500 rose 11.3%.
- **Long term:** FER turned $10,000 into $31,700 over the past decade, against $42,000 in the S&P 500. Even so, the past 5 years have been the better stretch: FER rose 105% against 74.1% for the S&P 500, after trailing over the decade.
- **In a crash:** FER fell less than the S&P 500 in three of four sell-offs, but the 2015 China and oil sell-off broke the pattern: it fell 18.8%, more than the S&P 500's 12.8%.
- **Diversification:** Against the S&P 500, FER has a correlation of 0.27 over 5 years, less closely than 74% of stocks worth at least $300 million. Next to an index fund it is a real diversifier. Over 10 years FER gave up some upside in exchange for smaller losses: 67% of the S&P 500's gains in rising months and 57% of its losses in falling ones, with a beta of 0.59.
- **Better options**
  - **Popular alternatives:** PAVE (Global X - U.S. Infrastructure Development ETF) matched FER's return over the past 5 years (15.0% a year against 15.5%) with 31% less volatility.
  - **Nearby categories and themes:** APG (APi Group, engineering & construction) earned more than FER over the past 5 years with similar volatility: 25.0% a year at 32.2% volatility, against 15.5% a year at 31.5%.
  - **Whole market:** 154 of the 3,627 stocks and funds worth at least $500 million earned more than FER with less volatility over the past 5 years, among them AAPL (Apple), WMT (Walmart) and JPM (JPMorgan Chase & Co.).

## How much would $10,000 in FER have grown?

This chart tracks a hypothetical $10,000 investment in FER over the past 14 years, with dividends reinvested, alongside the same amount in the S&P 500, investments that ended ahead of FER over the same span and FER's popular alternatives, among those that traded for the entire period.

- $10,000 invested in FER at the end of October 2012 would have grown to $62,336 by October 2026, less than the $67,978 it would have become in SPY, an S&P 500 fund.
- Six of the eight other investments on the chart ended ahead of FER, and STRL finished highest, at $388,658.

## FER at a glance

This section summarizes the key facts about the stock, its returns over periods from one to ten years and the risk it has carried, with dividends reinvested throughout.

- FER is still 22.4% below its all-time high.
- FER's deepest decline since it began trading in 2012 was 41.2%, from November 2015 to May 2018. It took 11 months from the low to climb back to its old high.
- Over 13 full calendar years, FER's best was 2025, when it returned 56.4%, and its worst was 2016, when it lost 24.0%. It lost money in five of those years.

- Type: Stock, Industrials (Engineering & Construction)
- Trading since: August 13, 2012
- Market value: $41B
- Volatility (5 years): 31.5%; Sharpe ratio: 0.61
- Worst decline ever: −41.2%, from November 3, 2015 to May 21, 2018; back at its high by April 30, 2019

| Period | FER total return |
| --- | --- |
| 1 month | +6.5% |
| 3 months | −13.5% |
| 6 months | −15.1% |
| year to date | −10.6% |
| 1 year | −7.4% |
| 3 years | +84.7% |
| 5 years | +105% |
| 10 years | +217% |

## FER against the whole market

Where FER ranks among every stock and fund, and what across the market has done better.

### How does FER rank among all stocks?

This section ranks FER on return, volatility, risk-adjusted return and worst decline against every stock worth at least $300 million with enough history.

- FER's worst decline of the past 10 years ranks in the top 6% of the 2,183 stocks worth at least $300 million, where the top fell the least.

| Measure | FER | Rank |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 1-year return | −7.4% | 2,344 of 3,272 (top 72%) |
| 3-year return | +84.7% | 1,022 of 2,999 (top 35%) |
| 5-year return | +105% | 647 of 2,886 (top 23%) |
| 10-year return | +217% | 846 of 2,186 (top 39%) |
| Volatility, 5 years | 31.5% | 855 of 2,886 (top 30%) |
| Sharpe ratio, 5 years | 0.61 | 631 of 2,886 (top 22%) |
| Worst decline, past 10 years | −38.9% | 128 of 2,183 (top 6%) |

### What has beaten FER on both return and risk?

Each dot is an investment, placed by how much it earned a year over the past 5 years (higher is better) and how much its price swung, its volatility (further left is calmer).

- 110 stocks and 44 ETFs worth at least $500 million sit in the green region: each earned more than FER over the past 5 years with smaller price swings. That is 4% of the 3,627 screened.
- Among those with at least half FER's swings, CAH has the best return for its risk: 41.9% a year at 24.8% volatility, 21% less than FER's 31.5%, and a Sharpe ratio (return above cash per unit of volatility) of 1.54 against 0.61 for FER.

### Is there a better investment than FER?

The table below lists investments that beat FER over the past 5 years on at least one of these measures: a higher annual return with lower volatility, a higher annual return at similar volatility, a similar return with lower volatility, a higher Sharpe ratio with a smaller worst decline, a higher total return in most periods from 3 months to 10 years, or smaller losses in recent market crashes.

- Among FER's popular alternatives, PAVE matched FER's return over the past 5 years (15.0% a year against 15.5%) with 31% less volatility.
- Looking beyond its popular alternatives, APG (engineering & construction) earned more than FER over the past 5 years with similar volatility: 25.0% a year at 32.2% volatility, against 15.5% a year at 31.5%.
- Across the whole market, 154 of the 3,627 stocks and funds worth at least $500 million earned more than FER with less volatility over the past 5 years, among them AAPL, WMT and JPM.

The 15 strongest of 154 investments that beat FER over the past 5 years, out of 3,627 stocks and funds worth at least $500 million.

| Investment | Group | Annual return (5 years) | Volatility | Sharpe | Worst decline (10 years) | 10Y return | Correlation with FER | Better on |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| FER: Ferrovial N.V. (this page) |  | +15.5% | 31.5% | 0.61 | −38.9% | +217% |  |  |
| [WMT](https://betterthanspy.com/research/wmt): Walmart Inc. | Discount Retail | +22.2% | 22.7% | 1.00 | −25.7% | +552% | 0.27 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher Sharpe, smaller worst decline; Higher return in most periods |
| [COST](https://betterthanspy.com/research/cost): Costco Wholesale Corporation | Discount Retail | +17.2% | 23.0% | 0.81 | −31.4% | +741% | 0.33 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher Sharpe, smaller worst decline; Higher return in most periods |
| [NVS](https://betterthanspy.com/research/nvs): Novartis AG | Pharmaceuticals | +18.5% | 20.7% | 0.93 | −26.8% | +265% | 0.35 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher Sharpe, smaller worst decline; Higher return in most periods |
| [GILD](https://betterthanspy.com/research/gild): Gilead Sciences, Inc. | Biotechnology | +25.3% | 25.0% | 1.03 | −30.5% | +235% | -0.10 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher Sharpe, smaller worst decline; Higher return in most periods |
| [AMGN](https://betterthanspy.com/research/amgn): Amgen Inc. | Biotechnology | +20.5% | 24.9% | 0.88 | −24.9% | +352% | 0.02 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher Sharpe, smaller worst decline; Higher return in most periods |
| [PGR](https://betterthanspy.com/research/pgr): The Progressive Corporation | Property & Casualty Insurance | +22.5% | 25.7% | 0.93 | −30.3% | +892% | 0.11 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher Sharpe, smaller worst decline; Higher return in most periods |
| [GLD](https://betterthanspy.com/research/gld): SPDR Gold Shares | Gold | +16.7% | 19.1% | 0.91 | −28.3% | +193% | 0.39 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher Sharpe, smaller worst decline; Higher return in most periods |
| [XLK](https://betterthanspy.com/research/xlk): State Street Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF | Technology Equity | +17.3% | 26.2% | 0.74 | −33.6% | +726% | 0.19 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher Sharpe, smaller worst decline; Higher return in most periods |
| [COR](https://betterthanspy.com/research/cor): Cencora, Inc. | Health Care Distribution | +23.2% | 22.8% | 1.03 | −32.4% | +429% | 0.22 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher Sharpe, smaller worst decline; Higher return in most periods |
| [MNST](https://betterthanspy.com/research/mnst): Monster Beverage Corporation | Nonalcoholic Beverages | +17.5% | 25.0% | 0.77 | −30.4% | +299% | 0.36 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher Sharpe, smaller worst decline; Higher return in most periods |
| SPMO: Invesco S&P 500 Momentum ETF | US Momentum Equity | +16.6% | 21.0% | 0.84 | −30.9% | +459% | 0.18 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher Sharpe, smaller worst decline; Higher return in most periods |
| DTM: DT Midstream, Inc. | Oil & Gas Midstream | +25.3% | 25.3% | 1.02 | −23.6% | — | 0.13 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher Sharpe, smaller worst decline; Higher return in most periods |
| [WELL](https://betterthanspy.com/research/well): Welltower Inc. | Healthcare REITs | +26.9% | 23.9% | 1.12 | −63.3% | +408% | 0.37 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher return in most periods |
| ACT: Enact Holdings Inc. | Insurance | +21.7% | 24.4% | 0.93 | −20.2% | — | 0.16 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher Sharpe, smaller worst decline; Higher return in most periods |
| [CAH](https://betterthanspy.com/research/cah): Cardinal Health, Inc. | Health Care Distribution | +41.9% | 24.8% | 1.54 | −46.1% | +388% | 0.21 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher return in most periods |

## FER against its popular alternatives

The investments people most often weigh against FER, compared period by period and year by year.

### How do FER's risk and return compare with its alternatives?

This map plots each investment's annual return over the past 5 years against its volatility, the size of its typical price swings.

- Only GVA was both more rewarding and calmer than FER over the past 5 years, earning a higher annual return with lower volatility.
- Over the past 5 years, FER returned 15.5% a year, more than the S&P 500's 11.7%, with higher volatility (31.5% against 17.2%).

### Has FER consistently beaten its popular alternatives?

This section compares FER with the investments people most often weigh against it, checking each one over eight periods from one month to ten years.

- Five of the 22 popular alternatives, led by TPC, PAC and OMAB, outperformed FER in at least 3 of 5 short-term and 2 of 3 long-term timeframes.
- TPC and PAC outperformed FER in every long-term period and in all but one short-term period, the most consistent record in the group.
- STRL outperformed FER over all three long-term periods but in only one of the five short-term ones, so FER has had the better of it lately.

| Investment | 1Y return | 3Y return | 5Y return | 10Y return | Periods ahead of FER | Verdict | Sharpe |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| FER: Ferrovial N.V. (this page) | −7.4% | +84.7% | +105% | +217% |  |  | 0.61 |
| TPC: Tutor Perini Corporation | +16.8% | +1,017% | +471% | +287% | 4/5 short-term, 3/3 long-term | all-weather | 0.90 |
| PAC: Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacífico, S.A.B. de C.V. | +10.3% | +108% | +119% | +274% | 4/5 short-term, 3/3 long-term | all-weather | 0.62 |
| OMAB: Grupo Aeroportuario del Centro Norte, S.A.B. de C.V. | +11.5% | +86.4% | +212% | +277% | 5/5 short-term, 2/3 long-term | consistent | 0.82 |
| GVA: Granite Construction Incorporated | +26.3% | +192% | +269% | +214% | 5/5 short-term, 2/3 long-term | consistent | 1.00 |
| CAAP: Corporacion America Airports S.A. | +11.4% | +119% | +340% | — | 4/5 short-term, 2/3 long-term | consistent | 1.00 |
| [CAT](https://betterthanspy.com/research/cat): Caterpillar Inc. | +8.5% | +167% | +222% | +836% | 2/5 short-term, 3/3 long-term |  | 0.89 |
| STRL: Sterling Infrastructure, Inc. | −14.6% | +344% | +1,265% | +5,014% | 1/5 short-term, 3/3 long-term |  | 1.16 |
| PRIM: Primoris Services Corporation | −48.3% | +143% | +183% | +326% | 0/5 short-term, 3/3 long-term |  | 0.70 |
| ROAD: Construction Partners, Inc. | −15.1% | +143% | +159% | — | 1/5 short-term, 2/3 long-term |  | 0.64 |
| DY: Dycom Industries, Inc. | −22.8% | +163% | +174% | +184% | 0/5 short-term, 2/3 long-term |  | 0.67 |
| [WM](https://betterthanspy.com/research/wm): Waste Management, Inc. | +22.8% | +49.1% | +59.5% | +346% | 5/5 short-term, 1/3 long-term |  | 0.58 |
| J: Jacobs Solutions Inc. | +5.0% | +48.6% | +44.2% | +320% | 5/5 short-term, 1/3 long-term |  | 0.41 |
| FLR: Fluor Corporation | −3.5% | +33.9% | +137% | −2.4% | 4/5 short-term, 1/3 long-term |  | 0.61 |
| KBR: KBR, Inc. | −3.1% | −18.0% | +1.2% | +221% | 5/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.16 |
| VMC: Vulcan Materials Company | +1.0% | +43.0% | +54.3% | +179% | 5/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.46 |
| BIP: Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. | +15.3% | +61.6% | +21.7% | +199% | 4/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.28 |
| PAVE: Global X - U.S. Infrastructure Development ETF | +14.1% | +86.8% | +101% | — | 4/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.76 |
| VIA: Via Transportation, Inc. | −32.3% | — | — | — | 4/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | — |
| MLM: Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. | −10.3% | +27.4% | +39.7% | +212% | 3/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.38 |
| ASR: Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste, S. A. B. de C. V. | −11.9% | +40.0% | +68.4% | +139% | 3/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.48 |
| ACM: Aecom | −49.3% | −12.5% | +1.3% | +155% | 2/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.15 |
| BIPC: Brookfield Infrastructure Corporation | −13.0% | +41.6% | +11.6% | — | 2/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.22 |

### How did FER do year by year?

This table shows each investment's total return in every full calendar year since 2013, along with where FER ranked among its popular alternatives each year.

- FER finished ahead of the S&P 500 in seven of its 13 full calendar years.
- Among its popular alternatives, ROAD came out ahead of FER most often, in five of the seven years both traded.
- Ranked against its popular alternatives each year, FER finished in the top quarter in three of 13 years and in the bottom quarter in two. In 2025, it ranked 7 of 22.

| Year | FER | SPY |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 2025 | +56.4% | +17.7% |
| 2024 | +21.4% | +24.9% |
| 2023 | +43.9% | +26.2% |
| 2022 | −5.6% | −18.2% |
| 2021 | −0.2% | +28.7% |
| 2020 | −3.4% | +18.3% |
| 2019 | +54.0% | +31.2% |
| 2018 | −12.9% | −4.6% |
| 2017 | +26.3% | +21.7% |
| 2016 | −24.0% | +12.0% |

## Risk and diversification

How FER has fallen, how it held up in crashes beside the S&P 500 and its popular alternatives, and what moves independently of it.

### What were FER's worst declines?

A drawdown is the decline from a peak to the lowest point before a new high.

- In all five of FER's worst declines, the S&P 500 held up better over the same dates.
- Not every decline was the market's doing: FER fell 41.2% from November 2015 to May 2018, while the S&P 500 rose 36.3%.
- The longest climb back to a previous high took 20 months, after FER fell 31.2% in March 2020.

| Decline | Peak | Low | Back at the high | SPY over the same dates | Market event |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| −41.2% | November 3, 2015 | May 21, 2018 | April 30, 2019 | +36.3% | 2015 China and oil sell-off |
| −33.7% | February 27, 2026 | October 15, 2026 | not yet | +13.4% |  |
| −31.2% | March 13, 2020 | March 25, 2020 | November 3, 2021 | −7.8% | Covid crash |
| −30.2% | February 21, 2020 | March 12, 2020 | March 13, 2020 | −25.6% | Covid crash |
| −28.6% | November 3, 2021 | October 21, 2022 | May 24, 2023 | −18.2% | 2022 bear market |

### How did FER do in stock market crashes?

This section measures how far FER, the S&P 500 and each alternative fell from peak to trough during every major market crash since 2000.

- FER fell less than the S&P 500 in four of the six crashes it has traded through. The clearest case was the late-2018 sell-off, when FER fell 7.6% and the S&P 500 fell 19.3%.
- None of its popular alternatives fell less than FER in most of the crashes they both traded through.
- FER began trading after the 2008 financial crisis, but 16 of its popular alternatives lived through it. The mildest fall among them was WM's 41.5%, against 55.2% for the S&P 500.

| Crash | Dates | FER fall | SPY fall |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Dot-com bust | March 10, 2000 to October 9, 2002 | not trading | −47.5% |
| Global financial crisis | October 9, 2007 to March 9, 2009 | not trading | −55.2% |
| Flash crash | May 6, 2010 to May 7, 2010 | not trading | −1.5% |
| Euro debt crisis | July 22, 2011 to October 3, 2011 | not trading | −17.9% |
| China devaluation & oil rout | August 10, 2015 to February 11, 2016 | −18.8% | −12.8% |
| Volmageddon | February 2, 2018 to February 9, 2018 | −8.0% | −6.5% |
| Q4 2018 selloff | September 21, 2018 to December 24, 2018 | −7.6% | −19.3% |
| COVID crash | February 19, 2020 to March 23, 2020 | −30.2% | −33.7% |
| 2022 bear market | January 4, 2022 to October 12, 2022 | −20.9% | −24.5% |
| SVB / regional bank stress | March 8, 2023 to March 13, 2023 | −0.7% | −3.4% |

### How closely does FER move with the S&P 500?

Upside capture measures how much of the S&P 500's gains an investment kept in the months the market rose, and downside capture how much of its losses it took in the months the market fell.

- Over the past 10 years, FER captured 67% of the S&P 500's gains in rising months and 57% of its losses in falling months, with a beta of 0.59. That is a defensive profile: it gave up some of the market's upside in exchange for smaller losses.
- Only STRL, WM and J had a higher capture ratio (upside capture divided by downside capture) than FER's 1.17, out of 17 popular alternatives with the same record.
- WM took just 37% of the S&P 500's losses, against 57% for FER, while still keeping 68% of its gains.

Measured over the past 10 years of monthly returns against SPY.

| Investment | Upside capture | Downside capture | Beta |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| FER: Ferrovial N.V. (this page) | 67.0% | 57.0% | 0.59 |
| TPC: Tutor Perini Corporation | 155% | 201% | 1.73 |
| PAC: Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacífico, S.A.B. de C.V. | 96.0% | 103% | 1.14 |
| OMAB: Grupo Aeroportuario del Centro Norte, S.A.B. de C.V. | 88.0% | 89.0% | 1.03 |
| GVA: Granite Construction Incorporated | 98.0% | 122% | 1.40 |
| [CAT](https://betterthanspy.com/research/cat): Caterpillar Inc. | 148% | 136% | 1.29 |
| STRL: Sterling Infrastructure, Inc. | 186% | 99.0% | 1.62 |
| PRIM: Primoris Services Corporation | 118% | 137% | 1.34 |
| DY: Dycom Industries, Inc. | 114% | 149% | 1.54 |
| [WM](https://betterthanspy.com/research/wm): Waste Management, Inc. | 68.0% | 37.0% | 0.61 |
| J: Jacobs Solutions Inc. | 82.0% | 69.0% | 0.77 |
| FLR: Fluor Corporation | 101% | 197% | 2.04 |
| KBR: KBR, Inc. | 87.0% | 97.0% | 0.87 |
| VMC: Vulcan Materials Company | 75.0% | 81.0% | 0.82 |
| BIP: Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. | 92.0% | 111% | 0.93 |
| MLM: Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. | 83.0% | 87.0% | 0.88 |
| ASR: Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste, S. A. B. de C. V. | 70.0% | 83.0% | 0.88 |
| ACM: Aecom | 82.0% | 102% | 1.23 |

### What diversifies FER?

Correlation measures how closely two investments move together, on a scale from 1 (in lockstep) through 0 (unrelated) to -1 (in opposite directions).

- Moving a fifth of the money in FER into XLE would have cut the portfolio's volatility by 21% over the past 5 years and raised its annual return (+14.7% for FER alone, +17.8% for the mix).
- DXJ made money in four of the five calendar years in which FER lost money.
- Among large ETFs, LVHI, DXJ and EMLP have moved largely independently of FER over the past 5 years, with correlations of 0.33 or lower, and each still earned a positive 5-year return.

| Investment | Correlation with FER | 5Y return | Volatility | Sharpe | Rose in FER's 5 down years |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| LVHI: Franklin International Low Volatility High Dividend Index ETF | 0.33 | +119% | 11.1% | 1.48 | 2 of 5 |
| DXJ: WisdomTree Japan Hedged Equity Fund | 0.29 | +220% | 19.1% | 1.32 | 4 of 5 |
| EMLP: First Trust North American Energy Infrastructure Fund | 0.21 | +108% | 14.4% | 1.09 | 3 of 5 |
| HDV: iShares Core High Dividend ETF | 0.10 | +87.1% | 13.0% | 1.03 | 3 of 5 |
| DBEF: Xtrackers MSCI EAFE Hedged Equity ETF | 0.40 | +82.4% | 13.8% | 0.94 | 3 of 5 |
| FTLS: First Trust Long/Short Equity ETF | 0.28 | +58.7% | 10.5% | 0.94 | 3 of 5 |
| AMLP: Alerian MLP ETF | 0.00 | +120% | 18.9% | 0.93 | 3 of 5 |
| [XLE](https://betterthanspy.com/research/xle): State Street Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF | -0.19 | +177% | 25.6% | 0.93 | 3 of 5 |

## Common questions

### What was FER's worst drawdown?

FER's deepest decline since it began trading in 2012 was 41.2%, from November 2015 to May 2018. It took 11 months from the low to climb back to its old high. Because FER launched in August 2012, that record does not include the dot-com bust, the 2008 financial crisis or two other sell-offs.

### What were FER's best and worst years?

Over 13 full calendar years, FER's best year was 2025, when it returned 56.4%. Its worst was 2016, with a return of -24.0%.

### Is there a better investment than FER?

Among FER's popular alternatives, PAVE matched FER's return over the past 5 years (15.0% a year against 15.5%) with 31% less volatility. Looking beyond its popular alternatives, APG (engineering & construction) earned more than FER over the past 5 years with similar volatility: 25.0% a year at 32.2% volatility, against 15.5% a year at 31.5%.

### Is FER more volatile than the S&P 500?

Yes. FER's volatility over the past 5 years was 31.5%, 1.8 times the S&P 500's 17.2%. Volatility measures how widely returns swing around their average: in roughly two years out of three, FER's return lands within 31.5% of its average, either way. The higher it is, the rougher the ride and the harder it is to hold through a slump.

### What is FER's Sharpe ratio?

FER's Sharpe ratio over the past 5 years was 0.61, against 0.73 for the S&P 500, so FER earned less for each unit of risk than an index fund did. The Sharpe ratio is the return earned above cash for each unit of volatility: two investments with the same return are not equal if one got there with far bigger swings.

### How correlated is FER with the S&P 500?

Over the past 5 years, FER's monthly returns had a correlation of 0.27 with the S&P 500. Correlation runs from 1 (moving in lockstep) through 0 (unrelated) to −1 (moving in opposite directions). They are only loosely linked, which makes it a real diversifier next to an index fund. In the table, the correlation column measures each option against FER instead: the lower it is, the more that option would diversify a FER holding.

### What are the best alternatives to FER?

Of the 22 popular alternatives we compared, five outperformed FER in at least 3 of 5 short-term and 2 of 3 long-term timeframes, with dividends reinvested: TPC, PAC and OMAB.

### Did FER outperform the S&P 500?

FER finished ahead of the S&P 500 (SPY) in seven of 13 full calendar years. In 2025, it returned +56.4%, against +17.7% for the index.

### How did FER do in stock market crashes?

FER fell less than the S&P 500 (SPY) in four of the six major crashes it has traded through, and further in two. The clearest case was the late-2018 sell-off, when FER fell 7.6% and the S&P 500 fell 19.3%.

### What diversifies FER?

These had a low correlation with FER over the past 5 years and still earned a positive 5-year return: among large ETFs, LVHI (correlation 0.33), DXJ (correlation 0.29) and EMLP (correlation 0.21); among large stocks, CAH (correlation 0.21), MPC (correlation -0.09) and MCK (correlation 0.13). A correlation near zero means the two have moved largely independently.

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## Explore further

- Full page with charts: https://betterthanspy.com/research/fer
- All research pages: https://betterthanspy.com/llms.txt
- Compare the entire market against FER live: https://betterthanspy.com/?b=FER