# How CME Group (CME) compares with the whole market and its popular alternatives

> Source: EasyCompare research, https://easycompare.io/research/cme
> Data as of October 20, 2026. Total returns include reinvested dividends. Past performance does not predict future results; nothing here is investment advice.

Built by QuantCommons' quantitative engine, this page is about relative opportunity, not data on CME alone. It places CME (CME Group Inc.) against 18 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 CME stands in the market, and of the alternatives worth a closer look.

Period covered: CME's full trading record, from December 2002 through September 2026. The crash tests reach back to 2000 using older funds and the S&P 500. All returns include reinvested dividends. Data as of October 20, 2026.

## Key findings

- **Right now:** Over the past 3 months, CME rose 21.0% against 3.9% for the S&P 500 and 3.2% for the Nasdaq 100. After a 31.1% loss from March 2026 to June 2026, CME has bounced 35.7% off the low.
- **Stock or market?:** CME held up far better than its industry: it rose 21.0% over the past 3 months while the capital markets ETF IAI (iShares U.S. Broker-Dealers & Securities Exchanges ETF) fell 5.9%. The S&P 500 rose 3.9%. Its capital market peers did not move as one over the past 3 months: MKTX (MarketAxess) rose 43.8%, while SCHW (Charles Schwab) fell 11.1%.
- **Past 1 to 3 years:** It took 14 months for CME to win back the 37.4% it lost in March 2020. the S&P 500 fell 28.3% over those same dates.
- **Long term:** CME's 10-year return of 319% puts it ahead of 75% of the stocks worth at least $300 million with that much history. The S&P 500 returned 321%. Even so, CME turned $10,000 into $41,900 over the past decade, against $42,100 in the S&P 500.
- **In a crash:** The 2022 bear market took 31.7% off CME, against 24.5% for the S&P 500. That was more than NDAQ (Nasdaq, 27.8%) but less than SCHW (Charles Schwab, 36.9%). CME fell further than the S&P 500 in three of the last three sell-offs, including the 2022 bear market (31.7% against 24.5%).
- **Diversification:** Against the S&P 500, CME has a correlation of 0.17 over 5 years, less closely than 89% of stocks worth at least $300 million. Next to an index fund it is a real diversifier. Over 10 years, CME's beta versus the S&P 500 was 0.33: 50% of the S&P 500's gains in rising months and 11% of its losses in falling ones.
- **Better options**
  - **Popular alternatives:** BNY (Bank of New York Mellon), STT (State Street) and VIRT (Virtu Financial) were ahead of CME in most short and long periods.
  - **Nearby categories and themes:** RY (Royal Bank of Canada, banks) earned more than CME with less volatility over the past 5 years: 17.3% a year at 18.2% volatility, against 11.2% a year at 20.8%.
  - **Whole market:** 132 of the 3,633 stocks and funds worth at least $500 million earned more than CME with less volatility over the past 5 years, among them VOO (Vanguard S&P 500 ETF), BRK-B (Berkshire Hathaway) and BRK-A (Berkshire Hathaway).

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

This chart tracks a hypothetical $10,000 investment in CME over the past 23 years, with dividends reinvested, alongside the same amount in the S&P 500, investments that ended ahead of CME over the same span and CME's popular alternatives, among those that traded for the entire period.

- $10,000 invested in CME at the end of September 2003 would have grown to $386,399 by September 2026, more than the $116,093 it would have become in SPY, an S&P 500 fund.
- Five of the eight other investments on the chart ended ahead of CME, and NVDA finished highest, at $18,839,668.

## CME 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.

- CME's deepest decline since it began trading in 2002 was 77.5%, from December 2007 to November 2008. It took about eight years from the low to climb back to its old high.
- Over 23 full calendar years, CME's best was 2004, when it returned 219%, and its worst was 2008, when it lost 68.8%. It lost money in five of those years.
- CME is 6.5% below its all-time high.

- Type: Stock, Financials (Financial - Data & Stock Exchanges)
- Trading since: December 6, 2002
- Market value: $106B
- Volatility (5 years): 20.8%; Sharpe ratio: 0.62
- Worst decline ever: −77.5%, from December 21, 2007 to November 20, 2008; back at its high by August 29, 2016

| Period | CME total return |
| --- | --- |
| 1 month | +7.2% |
| 3 months | +21.0% |
| 6 months | +3.8% |
| year to date | +13.2% |
| 1 year | +14.6% |
| 3 years | +57.7% |
| 5 years | +70.1% |
| 10 years | +319% |

## CME against the whole market

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

### How does CME rank among all stocks?

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

- CME is among the steadier stocks: its price swings rank in the top 4% of the 2,893 stocks worth at least $300 million, where the top is the calmest.

| Measure | CME | Rank |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 1-year return | +14.6% | 1,418 of 3,287 (top 44%) |
| 3-year return | +57.7% | 1,435 of 3,017 (top 48%) |
| 5-year return | +70.1% | 901 of 2,893 (top 32%) |
| 10-year return | +319% | 540 of 2,202 (top 25%) |
| Volatility, 5 years | 20.8% | 115 of 2,893 (top 4%) |
| Sharpe ratio, 5 years | 0.62 | 634 of 2,893 (top 22%) |
| Worst decline, past 10 years | −37.4% | 91 of 2,187 (top 5%) |

### What has beaten CME 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).

- Ten stocks and 122 ETFs worth at least $500 million sit in the green region: each earned more than CME over the past 5 years with smaller price swings. That is 4% of the 3,633 screened.
- Among those with at least half CME's swings, LVHI has the best return for its risk: 17.0% a year at 11.1% volatility, 47% less than CME's 20.8%, and a Sharpe ratio (return above cash per unit of volatility) of 1.48 against 0.62 for CME. DXJ earned the most, 26.6% a year, while still swinging less than CME (19.1% against 20.8%).
- None of CME's popular alternatives made it, but RY (banks) did: 17.3% a year at 18.2% volatility, 12% less than CME's 20.8%.

### Is there a better investment than CME?

The table below lists investments that beat CME 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 CME's popular alternatives, BNY, STT and VIRT were ahead of CME in most short and long periods.
- Looking beyond its popular alternatives, RY (banks) earned more than CME with less volatility over the past 5 years: 17.3% a year at 18.2% volatility, against 11.2% a year at 20.8%.
- Across the whole market, 132 of the 3,633 stocks and funds worth at least $500 million earned more than CME with less volatility over the past 5 years, among them VOO, BRK-B and BRK-A.

The 15 strongest of 132 investments that beat CME over the past 5 years, out of 3,633 stocks and funds worth at least $500 million.

| Investment | Group | Annual return (5 years) | Volatility | Sharpe | Worst decline (10 years) | 10Y return | Correlation with CME | Better on |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| CME: CME Group Inc. (this page) |  | +11.2% | 20.8% | 0.62 | −37.4% | +319% |  |  |
| [JNJ](https://easycompare.io/research/jnj): Johnson & Johnson | Pharmaceuticals | +12.7% | 17.9% | 0.76 | −27.4% | +196% | 0.05 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher Sharpe, smaller worst decline; Higher return in most periods |
| LVHI: Franklin International Low Volatility High Dividend Index ETF | International Equity | +17.0% | 11.1% | 1.48 | −32.4% | +194% | 0.35 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher Sharpe, smaller worst decline; Higher return in most periods |
| AVLV: Avantis U.S. Large Cap Value ETF | US Large-Cap Value | +14.0% | 16.9% | 0.86 | −19.5% | — | 0.16 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher Sharpe, smaller worst decline; Higher return in most periods |
| DFUS: Dimensional U.S. Equity ETF | US Total Market | +12.3% | 17.3% | 0.76 | −24.6% | — | 0.16 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher Sharpe, smaller worst decline; Higher return in most periods |
| IOO: iShares Global 100 ETF | Global Equity | +15.7% | 17.2% | 0.94 | −31.4% | +361% | 0.21 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher Sharpe, smaller worst decline; Higher return in most periods |
| BKLC: BNY Mellon US Large Cap Core Equity ETF | US Large-Cap Equity | +13.8% | 17.3% | 0.84 | −26.2% | — | 0.18 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher Sharpe, smaller worst decline; Higher return in most periods |
| [MPLX](https://easycompare.io/research/mplx): MPLX Lp | Oil & Gas Midstream | +23.5% | 18.8% | 1.22 | −75.2% | +350% | 0.26 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher return in most periods |
| SPUS: SP Funds S&P 500 Sharia Industry Exclusions ETF | Technology | +15.0% | 19.5% | 0.82 | −30.8% | — | 0.12 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher Sharpe, smaller worst decline; Higher return in most periods |
| IHE: iShares U.S. Pharmaceuticals ETF | Broad Market | +12.6% | 16.8% | 0.80 | −29.6% | +151% | 0.11 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher Sharpe, smaller worst decline; Higher return in most periods |
| DBJP: Xtrackers MSCI Japan Hedged Equity ETF | International | +20.9% | 19.2% | 1.09 | −31.3% | +348% | 0.01 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher Sharpe, smaller worst decline; Higher return in most periods |
| EWJV: iShares MSCI Japan Value ETF | International | +14.9% | 18.2% | 0.86 | −30.1% | — | 0.29 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher Sharpe, smaller worst decline; Higher return in most periods |
| [RY](https://easycompare.io/research/ry): Royal Bank of Canada | Banks | +17.3% | 18.2% | 0.97 | −40.0% | +352% | -0.01 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher return in most periods |
| SIXA: ETC 6 Meridian Mega Cap Equity ETF | Broad Market | +12.8% | 12.7% | 1.01 | −18.4% | — | 0.22 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher Sharpe, smaller worst decline; Higher return in most periods |
| DXJ: WisdomTree Japan Hedged Equity Fund | International Equity | +26.6% | 19.1% | 1.34 | −39.1% | +428% | 0.12 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher return in most periods |
| [KO](https://easycompare.io/research/ko): The Coca-Cola Company | Food & Beverages | +14.7% | 16.8% | 0.91 | −37.0% | +204% | 0.40 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher return in most periods |

## CME against its popular alternatives

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

### How do CME'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.

- None of the 18 popular alternatives earned more than CME over the past 5 years with smaller price swings, so every higher return on the map came with a bumpier ride.
- Ten of the 18 popular alternatives earned less than CME over the past 5 years while swinging more, the weaker corner of the map.
- Over the past 5 years, CME returned 11.2% a year, less than the S&P 500's 12.7%, with higher volatility (20.8% against 17.1%).

### Has CME consistently beaten its popular alternatives?

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

- Four of the 18 popular alternatives, led by VIRT, CBOE and BNY, outperformed CME in at least 3 of 5 short-term and 2 of 3 long-term timeframes.
- MS outperformed CME over all three long-term periods but in none of the five short-term ones, so CME has had the better of it lately.

| Investment | 1Y return | 3Y return | 5Y return | 10Y return | Periods ahead of CME | Verdict | Sharpe |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| CME: CME Group Inc. (this page) | +14.6% | +57.7% | +70.1% | +319% |  |  | 0.62 |
| VIRT: Virtu Financial, Inc. | +76.5% | +243% | +158% | +545% | 3/5 short-term, 3/3 long-term | consistent | 0.73 |
| CBOE: Cboe Global Markets, Inc. | +34.2% | +101% | +165% | +463% | 3/5 short-term, 3/3 long-term | consistent | 0.91 |
| [BNY](https://easycompare.io/research/bny): Bank of New York Mellon Corp | +35.3% | +272% | +179% | +341% | 3/5 short-term, 3/3 long-term | consistent | 0.97 |
| [STT](https://easycompare.io/research/stt): State Street Corporation | +47.9% | +181% | +96.2% | +212% | 3/5 short-term, 2/3 long-term | consistent | 0.60 |
| [IBKR](https://easycompare.io/research/ibkr): Interactive Brokers Group, Inc. | +24.4% | +320% | +355% | +935% | 2/5 short-term, 3/3 long-term |  | 1.04 |
| [GS](https://easycompare.io/research/gs): The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. | +18.2% | +215% | +145% | +521% | 1/5 short-term, 3/3 long-term |  | 0.77 |
| [MS](https://easycompare.io/research/ms): Morgan Stanley | +13.9% | +170% | +110% | +627% | 0/5 short-term, 3/3 long-term |  | 0.66 |
| [NDAQ](https://easycompare.io/research/ndaq): Nasdaq, Inc. | +8.1% | +95.1% | +52.9% | +407% | 1/5 short-term, 2/3 long-term |  | 0.47 |
| [HOOD](https://easycompare.io/research/hood): Robinhood Markets, Inc. | −27.7% | +976% | +135% | — | 1/5 short-term, 2/3 long-term |  | 0.59 |
| [MSCI](https://easycompare.io/research/msci): MSCI Inc. | +11.8% | +25.5% | +0.5% | +702% | 1/5 short-term, 1/3 long-term |  | 0.16 |
| [BLK](https://easycompare.io/research/blk): BlackRock, Inc. | −0.6% | +96.3% | +41.1% | +313% | 1/5 short-term, 1/3 long-term |  | 0.39 |
| [MCO](https://easycompare.io/research/mco): Moody's Corporation | +1.1% | +57.3% | +33.4% | +383% | 0/5 short-term, 1/3 long-term |  | 0.35 |
| [SCHW](https://easycompare.io/research/schw): The Charles Schwab Corporation | −3.1% | +86.2% | +19.1% | +221% | 0/5 short-term, 1/3 long-term |  | 0.27 |
| FDS: FactSet Research Systems Inc. | +9.5% | −24.7% | −21.8% | +127% | 3/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | -0.01 |
| [SPGI](https://easycompare.io/research/spgi): S&P Global Inc. | −7.4% | +28.2% | +3.7% | +293% | 1/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.16 |
| MKTX: MarketAxess Holdings Inc. | −1.9% | −26.8% | −56.7% | +19.9% | 1/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | -0.30 |
| TW: Tradeweb Markets Inc. | +10.2% | +48.4% | +45.3% | — | 1/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.41 |
| [ICE](https://easycompare.io/research/ice): Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. | +3.5% | +52.4% | +30.0% | +240% | 0/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.35 |

### How did CME do year by year?

This table shows each investment's total return in every full calendar year since 2003, along with where CME ranked among its popular alternatives each year.

- CME finished ahead of the S&P 500 in 14 of its 23 full calendar years.
- Among its popular alternatives, IBKR came out ahead of CME most often, in 12 of the 18 years both traded.
- Ranked against its popular alternatives each year, CME finished in the top quarter in five of 23 years and in the bottom quarter in three. In 2025, it ranked 10 of 19.

| Year | CME | SPY |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 2025 | +19.8% | +17.7% |
| 2024 | +15.4% | +24.9% |
| 2023 | +31.3% | +26.2% |
| 2022 | −22.9% | −18.2% |
| 2021 | +29.5% | +28.7% |
| 2020 | −6.3% | +18.3% |
| 2019 | +9.7% | +31.2% |
| 2018 | +32.1% | −4.6% |
| 2017 | +32.4% | +21.7% |
| 2016 | +33.9% | +12.0% |

## Risk and diversification

How CME 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 CME's worst declines?

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

- In all five of CME's worst declines, the S&P 500 held up better over the same dates.
- Not every decline was the market's doing: CME fell 31.1% from March to June 2026, while the S&P 500 rose 8.5%.
- The slowest recovery came after CME fell 77.5% from December 2007 to November 2008; it did not regain that peak until August 2016, eight years later.

| Decline | Peak | Low | Back at the high | SPY over the same dates | Market event |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| −77.5% | December 21, 2007 | November 20, 2008 | August 29, 2016 | −48.3% | 2008 financial crisis |
| −37.4% | March 4, 2020 | March 23, 2020 | May 14, 2021 | −28.3% | Covid crash |
| −31.7% | March 21, 2022 | October 10, 2022 | October 16, 2024 | −18.3% | 2022 bear market |
| −31.1% | March 2, 2026 | June 29, 2026 | not yet | +8.5% |  |
| −25.5% | December 31, 2004 | April 21, 2005 | June 2, 2005 | −3.6% |  |

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

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

- None of its popular alternatives fell less than CME in most of the crashes they both traded through.
- CME began trading after the dot-com bust, but nine of its popular alternatives lived through it. The mildest fall among them was MCO's 18.5%, against 47.5% for the S&P 500.
- CME fell further than the S&P 500 in four of the nine crashes it has traded through. The clearest case was the 2008 financial crisis, when CME fell 77.5% and the S&P 500 fell 55.2%.

| Crash | Dates | CME 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 | −77.5% | −55.2% |
| Flash crash | May 6, 2010 to May 7, 2010 | −1.9% | −1.5% |
| Euro debt crisis | July 22, 2011 to October 3, 2011 | −18.0% | −17.9% |
| China devaluation & oil rout | August 10, 2015 to February 11, 2016 | −17.3% | −12.8% |
| Volmageddon | February 2, 2018 to February 9, 2018 | −4.3% | −6.5% |
| Q4 2018 selloff | September 21, 2018 to December 24, 2018 | −9.4% | −19.3% |
| COVID crash | February 19, 2020 to March 23, 2020 | −37.4% | −33.7% |
| 2022 bear market | January 4, 2022 to October 12, 2022 | −31.7% | −24.5% |
| SVB / regional bank stress | March 8, 2023 to March 13, 2023 | −3.4% | −3.4% |

### How closely does CME 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.

- None of the 15 popular alternatives with the same record had a higher capture ratio (upside capture divided by downside capture) than CME's 4.48.
- Over the past 10 years, CME captured 50% of the S&P 500's gains in rising months and 11% of its losses in falling months, with a beta of 0.33. That is a defensive profile: it gave up some of the market's upside in exchange for smaller losses.
- VIRT took just -28% of the S&P 500's losses, against 11% for CME, while still keeping 45% of its gains.

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

| Investment | Upside capture | Downside capture | Beta |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| CME: CME Group Inc. (this page) | 50.0% | 11.0% | 0.33 |
| VIRT: Virtu Financial, Inc. | 45.0% | −28.0% | 0.20 |
| CBOE: Cboe Global Markets, Inc. | 79.0% | 50.0% | 0.53 |
| [BNY](https://easycompare.io/research/bny): Bank of New York Mellon Corp | 115% | 120% | 1.08 |
| [STT](https://easycompare.io/research/stt): State Street Corporation | 128% | 166% | 1.48 |
| [IBKR](https://easycompare.io/research/ibkr): Interactive Brokers Group, Inc. | 128% | 92.0% | 1.03 |
| [GS](https://easycompare.io/research/gs): The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. | 136% | 133% | 1.39 |
| [MS](https://easycompare.io/research/ms): Morgan Stanley | 142% | 137% | 1.39 |
| [NDAQ](https://easycompare.io/research/ndaq): Nasdaq, Inc. | 104% | 97.0% | 0.91 |
| [MSCI](https://easycompare.io/research/msci): MSCI Inc. | 131% | 121% | 1.12 |
| [BLK](https://easycompare.io/research/blk): BlackRock, Inc. | 127% | 157% | 1.30 |
| [MCO](https://easycompare.io/research/mco): Moody's Corporation | 131% | 151% | 1.26 |
| [SCHW](https://easycompare.io/research/schw): The Charles Schwab Corporation | 89.0% | 90.0% | 0.91 |
| FDS: FactSet Research Systems Inc. | 71.0% | 97.0% | 0.76 |
| [SPGI](https://easycompare.io/research/spgi): S&P Global Inc. | 107% | 125% | 1.04 |
| MKTX: MarketAxess Holdings Inc. | 40.0% | 74.0% | 0.62 |
| [ICE](https://easycompare.io/research/ice): Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. | 88.0% | 94.0% | 0.84 |

### What diversifies CME?

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 CME into SPMO would have cut the portfolio's volatility by 20% over the past 5 years and raised its annual return (+10.8% for CME alone, +13.8% for the mix).
- CAH made money in four of the five calendar years in which CME lost money.
- Among large ETFs, LVHI, DXJ and EMLP have moved largely independently of CME over the past 5 years, with correlations of 0.35 or lower, and each still earned a positive 5-year return.

| Investment | Correlation with CME | 5Y return | Volatility | Sharpe | Rose in CME's 5 down years |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| LVHI: Franklin International Low Volatility High Dividend Index ETF | 0.35 | +119% | 11.1% | 1.48 | 1 of 5 |
| DXJ: WisdomTree Japan Hedged Equity Fund | 0.12 | +225% | 19.1% | 1.34 | 2 of 5 |
| EMLP: First Trust North American Energy Infrastructure Fund | 0.30 | +101% | 14.5% | 1.04 | 1 of 5 |
| HDV: iShares Core High Dividend ETF | 0.30 | +83.3% | 13.0% | 1.00 | 1 of 5 |
| [SMH](https://easycompare.io/research/smh): VanEck Semiconductor ETF | -0.16 | +323% | 36.9% | 0.97 | 3 of 5 |
| DBEF: Xtrackers MSCI EAFE Hedged Equity ETF | 0.15 | +85.0% | 13.8% | 0.96 | 1 of 5 |
| [GLD](https://easycompare.io/research/gld): SPDR Gold Shares | 0.48 | +126% | 18.9% | 0.96 | 4 of 5 |
| SPMO: Invesco S&P 500 Momentum ETF | -0.11 | +136% | 20.8% | 0.93 | 1 of 5 |

## Common questions

### What was CME's worst drawdown?

CME's deepest decline since it began trading in 2002 was 77.5%, from December 2007 to November 2008. It took about eight years from the low to climb back to its old high. Because CME launched in December 2002, that record does not include the dot-com bust.

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

Over 23 full calendar years, CME's best year was 2004, when it returned 219%. Its worst was 2008, with a return of -68.8%.

### Is there a better investment than CME?

Among CME's popular alternatives, BNY, STT and VIRT were ahead of CME in most short and long periods. Looking beyond its popular alternatives, RY (banks) earned more than CME with less volatility over the past 5 years: 17.3% a year at 18.2% volatility, against 11.2% a year at 20.8%.

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

Yes. CME's volatility over the past 5 years was 20.8%, 1.2 times the S&P 500's 17.1%. Volatility measures how widely returns swing around their average: in roughly two years out of three, CME's return lands within 20.8% 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 CME's Sharpe ratio?

CME's Sharpe ratio over the past 5 years was 0.62, against 0.79 for the S&P 500, so CME 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 CME with the S&P 500?

Over the past 5 years, CME's monthly returns had a correlation of 0.17 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 CME instead: the lower it is, the more that option would diversify a CME holding.

### What are the best alternatives to CME?

Of the 18 popular alternatives we compared, four outperformed CME in at least 3 of 5 short-term and 2 of 3 long-term timeframes, with dividends reinvested: VIRT, CBOE and BNY.

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

CME finished ahead of the S&P 500 (SPY) in 14 of 23 full calendar years. In 2025, it returned +19.8%, against +17.7% for the index.

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

CME fell less than the S&P 500 (SPY) in two of the nine major crashes it has traded through, and further in four. The clearest case was the 2008 financial crisis, when CME fell 77.5% and the S&P 500 fell 55.2%.

### What diversifies CME?

These had a low correlation with CME over the past 5 years and still earned a positive 5-year return: among large ETFs, LVHI (correlation 0.35), DXJ (correlation 0.12) and EMLP (correlation 0.30); among large stocks, CAH (correlation 0.00), CLS (correlation 0.00) and FIX (correlation 0.10). A correlation near zero means the two have moved largely independently.

## More research

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- [MSCI Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/msci)
- [BlackRock (BLK) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/blk)
- [Moody's (MCO) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/mco)
- [Charles Schwab (SCHW) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/schw)
- [S&P Global (SPGI) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/spgi)

## Explore further

- Full page with charts: https://easycompare.io/research/cme
- All research pages: https://easycompare.io/llms.txt
- Compare the entire market against CME live: https://betterthanspy.com/?b=CME&utm_source=easycompare&utm_medium=research