# How Southern (SO) compares with the whole market and its popular alternatives

> Source: EasyCompare research, https://easycompare.io/research/so
> 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 SO alone. It places SO (The Southern Company) 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 SO stands in the market, and of the alternatives worth a closer look.

Period covered: SO's full trading record, from October 1986 through September 2026. All returns include reinvested dividends. Data as of October 20, 2026.

## Key findings

- **Right now:** Over the past 6 months, SO fell 1.4% while the S&P 500 rose 9.1%. Not every peer went the same way. Over the past 6 months, ED (Consolidated Edison) rose 3.8% and NEE (NextEra Energy) fell 13.0%.
- **Stock or market?:** Not a move of its own: the electric utilities ETF XLU (State Street Utilities Select Sector SPDR ETF) fell 6.1% over the past 3 months, with NEE (NextEra Energy, down 9.7%) and DUK (Duke Energy, down 2.7%), while the S&P 500 rose 3.9%. SO rose 6.1% last month as the S&P 500 fell 0.6% and the Nasdaq 100 fell 3.2%.
- **Past 1 to 3 years:** SO has gone against the market, falling 4.1% over the past year while the S&P 500 rose 15.8%. The same gap shows up over 3 years (53.0% against 89.3%). SO led its electric utility peers in 2023, then fell behind DUK (Duke Energy) and AEP (American Electric Power) in 2025.
- **Long term:** SO turned $10,000 into $27,000 over the past decade, against $42,100 in the S&P 500.
- **In a crash:** SO fell less than the S&P 500 in six of seven sell-offs, but the Covid crash broke the pattern: it fell 38.1%, more than the S&P 500's 33.7%.
- **Diversification:** SO is a real diversifier: a correlation of 0.27 with the S&P 500 over 5 years and 0.25 with the total US market, less closely than 75% of stocks worth at least $300 million. Over 10 years SO kept more of the market's gains than of its losses: 41% of the S&P 500's gains in rising months and 20% of its losses in falling ones, with a beta of 0.39.
- **Better options**
  - **Nearby categories and themes:** ATO (Atmos Energy, gas utilities) earned more for the risk it took than SO over the past 5 years, and its worst fall in 10 years was 32.9%, against 38.4% for SO.
  - **Whole market:** 90 of the 3,633 stocks and funds worth at least $500 million earned more than SO 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 SO have grown?

This chart tracks a hypothetical $10,000 investment in SO over the past 29 years, with dividends reinvested, alongside the same amount in the S&P 500, investments that ended ahead of SO over the same span and SO's popular alternatives, among those that traded for the entire period.

- $10,000 invested in SO at the end of September 1997 would have grown to $225,240 by September 2026, more than the $132,907 it would have become in SPY, an S&P 500 fund.
- Five of the eight other investments on the chart ended ahead of SO, and AAPL finished highest, at $20,534,853.

## SO 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.

- SO's deepest decline since it began trading in 1986 was 38.4%, from January to March 2020. It took 17 months from the low to climb back to its old high.
- Over 29 full calendar years, SO's best was 2019, when it returned 51.6%, and its worst was 1999, when it lost 14.9%. It lost money in five of those years.
- SO is 7.0% below its all-time high.

- Type: Stock, Utilities (Regulated Electric)
- Trading since: October 17, 1986
- Market value: $104B
- Volatility (5 years): 18.8%; Sharpe ratio: 0.67
- Worst decline ever: −38.4%, from January 30, 2020 to March 23, 2020; back at its high by August 16, 2021

| Period | SO total return |
| --- | --- |
| 1 month | +6.1% |
| 3 months | −3.2% |
| 6 months | −1.4% |
| year to date | +6.6% |
| 1 year | −4.1% |
| 3 years | +53.0% |
| 5 years | +70.9% |
| 10 years | +170% |

## SO against the whole market

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

### How does SO rank among all stocks?

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

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

| Measure | SO | Rank |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 1-year return | −4.1% | 2,148 of 3,287 (top 66%) |
| 3-year return | +53.0% | 1,496 of 3,017 (top 50%) |
| 5-year return | +70.9% | 895 of 2,893 (top 31%) |
| 10-year return | +170% | 988 of 2,202 (top 45%) |
| Volatility, 5 years | 18.8% | 60 of 2,893 (top 3%) |
| Sharpe ratio, 5 years | 0.67 | 534 of 2,893 (top 19%) |
| Worst decline, past 10 years | −38.4% | 118 of 2,187 (top 6%) |

### What has beaten SO 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).

- Five stocks and 85 ETFs worth at least $500 million sit in the green region: each earned more than SO over the past 5 years with smaller price swings. That is 2% of the 3,633 screened.
- Among those with at least half SO's swings, LVHI has the best return for its risk: 17.0% a year at 11.1% volatility, 41% less than SO's 18.8%, and a Sharpe ratio (return above cash per unit of volatility) of 1.48 against 0.67 for SO.

### Is there a better investment than SO?

The table below lists investments that beat SO 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 SO's popular alternatives, AEP and PNW were ahead of SO in most short and long periods.
- Looking beyond its popular alternatives, ATO (gas utilities) earned more for the risk it took than SO over the past 5 years, and its worst fall in 10 years was 32.9%, against 38.4% for SO.
- Across the whole market, 90 of the 3,633 stocks and funds worth at least $500 million earned more than SO with less volatility over the past 5 years, among them VOO, BRK-B and BRK-A.

The 15 strongest of 90 investments that beat SO 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 SO | Better on |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| SO: The Southern Company (this page) |  | +11.3% | 18.8% | 0.67 | −38.4% | +170% |  |  |
| [BRK-B](https://easycompare.io/research/brk-b): Berkshire Hathaway Inc. | Insurance | +13.4% | 17.1% | 0.82 | −29.6% | +274% | 0.43 | 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% | 0.46 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher Sharpe, smaller worst decline; Higher return in most periods |
| DFIV: Dimensional - International Value ETF | International Equity | +14.8% | 16.4% | 0.93 | −25.4% | — | 0.39 | 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% | — | 0.29 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher Sharpe, smaller worst decline; Higher return in most periods |
| OEF: iShares S&P 100 ETF | US Large-Cap Equity | +14.3% | 17.8% | 0.84 | −31.4% | +367% | 0.22 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher Sharpe, smaller worst decline; Higher return in most periods |
| DBEF: Xtrackers MSCI EAFE Hedged Equity ETF | International Equity | +13.1% | 13.8% | 0.96 | −32.5% | +206% | 0.34 | 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% | 0.28 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher Sharpe, smaller worst decline; Higher return in most periods |
| JQUA: JPMorgan U.S. Quality Factor ETF | US Quality Equity | +13.6% | 15.7% | 0.89 | −32.9% | — | 0.29 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher Sharpe, smaller worst decline; Higher return in most periods |
| TSPA: T. Rowe Price U.S. Equity Research ETF | Broad Market | +13.1% | 17.1% | 0.81 | −24.7% | — | 0.26 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher Sharpe, smaller worst decline; Higher return in most periods |
| DIVI: Franklin International Core Dividend Tilt Index ETF | International | +13.4% | 15.5% | 0.89 | −27.7% | +184% | 0.42 | 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% | 0.30 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher Sharpe, smaller worst decline; Higher return in most periods |
| [JNJ](https://easycompare.io/research/jnj): Johnson & Johnson | Pharmaceuticals | +12.7% | 17.9% | 0.76 | −27.4% | +196% | 0.42 | 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% | — | 0.42 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher Sharpe, smaller worst decline; 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% | 0.52 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher return in most periods |
| [EPD](https://easycompare.io/research/epd): Enterprise Products Partners L.P. | Oil & Gas Midstream | +16.4% | 17.1% | 0.98 | −58.1% | +178% | 0.32 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher return in most periods |

## SO against its popular alternatives

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

### How do SO'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 ED was both more rewarding and calmer than SO over the past 5 years, earning a higher annual return with lower volatility.
- 14 of the 24 popular alternatives earned less than SO over the past 5 years while swinging more, the weaker corner of the map.
- Over the past 5 years, SO returned 11.3% a year, less than the S&P 500's 12.7%, with higher volatility (18.8% against 17.1%).

### Has SO consistently beaten its popular alternatives?

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

- Two of the 25 popular alternatives, AEP and PNW, outperformed SO in at least 3 of 5 short-term and 2 of 3 long-term timeframes.
- ED and AEP earned more for the risk they took than SO (a higher Sharpe ratio) and fell less in their worst decline of the past 10 years.
- VST outperformed SO over all three long-term periods but in only one of the five short-term ones, so SO has had the better of it lately.

| Investment | 1Y return | 3Y return | 5Y return | 10Y return | Periods ahead of SO | Verdict | Sharpe |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| SO: The Southern Company (this page) | −4.1% | +53.0% | +70.9% | +170% |  |  | 0.67 |
| [AEP](https://easycompare.io/research/aep): American Electric Power Company, Inc. | +11.3% | +93.3% | +79.4% | +185% | 3/5 short-term, 3/3 long-term | consistent | 0.68 |
| PNW: Pinnacle West Capital Corporation | +15.3% | +57.1% | +87.3% | +103% | 5/5 short-term, 2/3 long-term | consistent | 0.73 |
| [ETR](https://easycompare.io/research/etr): Entergy Corporation | +11.4% | +149% | +141% | +311% | 2/5 short-term, 3/3 long-term |  | 0.90 |
| [VST](https://easycompare.io/research/vst): Vistra Corp. | −22.2% | +383% | +748% | +1,195% | 1/5 short-term, 3/3 long-term |  | 1.13 |
| BWXT: BWX Technologies, Inc. | −35.0% | +79.8% | +145% | +289% | 0/5 short-term, 3/3 long-term |  | 0.70 |
| [NEE](https://easycompare.io/research/nee): NextEra Energy, Inc. | −4.3% | +65.9% | +7.5% | +228% | 0/5 short-term, 2/3 long-term |  | 0.19 |
| [ED](https://easycompare.io/research/ed): Consolidated Edison, Inc. | +13.7% | +42.4% | +76.3% | +114% | 5/5 short-term, 1/3 long-term |  | 0.70 |
| EVRG: Evergy, Inc. | +9.0% | +93.6% | +57.2% | +109% | 4/5 short-term, 1/3 long-term |  | 0.57 |
| [D](https://easycompare.io/research/d): Dominion Energy, Inc. | +6.6% | +80.8% | +2.7% | +32.5% | 3/5 short-term, 1/3 long-term |  | 0.14 |
| AEE: Ameren Corporation | +3.4% | +52.5% | +45.9% | +192% | 2/5 short-term, 1/3 long-term |  | 0.49 |
| LNT: Alliant Energy Corporation | +2.6% | +54.6% | +42.3% | +150% | 1/5 short-term, 1/3 long-term |  | 0.46 |
| CNP: CenterPoint Energy, Inc. | +2.3% | +60.0% | +71.3% | +142% | 1/5 short-term, 1/3 long-term |  | 0.65 |
| [DUK](https://easycompare.io/research/duk): Duke Energy Corporation | −2.6% | +56.1% | +43.9% | +132% | 1/5 short-term, 1/3 long-term |  | 0.50 |
| PPL: PPL Corporation | −5.2% | +60.8% | +40.7% | +59.2% | 1/5 short-term, 1/3 long-term |  | 0.46 |
| [CEG](https://easycompare.io/research/ceg): Constellation Energy Corporation | −29.7% | +135% | — | — | 1/5 short-term, 1/3 long-term |  | — |
| [XEL](https://easycompare.io/research/xel): Xcel Energy Inc. | −2.7% | +46.0% | +37.3% | +156% | 3/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.41 |
| WEC: WEC Energy Group, Inc. | −4.3% | +49.1% | +41.6% | +159% | 1/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.46 |
| FE: FirstEnergy Corp. | +0.7% | +46.8% | +50.2% | +111% | 1/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.52 |
| [EXC](https://easycompare.io/research/exc): Exelon Corporation | −7.5% | +22.6% | +40.7% | +159% | 0/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.43 |
| PEG: Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated | −13.6% | +31.9% | +32.3% | +142% | 0/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.38 |
| DTE: DTE Energy Company | −6.7% | +48.3% | +32.2% | +127% | 0/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.39 |
| CMS: CMS Energy Corporation | −6.0% | +42.2% | +31.4% | +123% | 0/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.38 |
| ES: Eversource Energy | −6.0% | +40.5% | −7.0% | +72.0% | 0/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.06 |
| SOJD: Southern Company (The) Series 2 | −12.5% | +6.4% | −13.1% | — | 0/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | -0.14 |
| [SOJE](https://easycompare.io/research/soje): Southern Company (The) Series 2 | −11.3% | +5.5% | −19.7% | — | 0/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | -0.24 |

### How did SO do year by year?

This table shows each investment's total return in every full calendar year since 1997, along with where SO ranked among its popular alternatives each year.

- SO finished ahead of the S&P 500 in 13 of its 29 full calendar years, and behind it in each of the last three.
- Among its popular alternatives, BWXT came out ahead of SO most often, in ten of the 15 years both traded.
- Ranked against its popular alternatives each year, SO finished in the top quarter in eight of 29 years and in the bottom quarter in nine. In 2025, it ranked 21 of 26.

| Year | SO | SPY |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 2025 | +9.5% | +17.7% |
| 2024 | +21.7% | +24.9% |
| 2023 | +2.2% | +26.2% |
| 2022 | +8.2% | −18.2% |
| 2021 | +16.4% | +28.7% |
| 2020 | +0.6% | +18.3% |
| 2019 | +51.6% | +31.2% |
| 2018 | −3.8% | −4.6% |
| 2017 | +2.4% | +21.7% |
| 2016 | +9.9% | +12.0% |

## Risk and diversification

How SO 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 SO's worst declines?

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

- Not every decline was the market's doing: SO fell 29.4% from October 1998 to March 2000, while the S&P 500 rose 40.4%.
- In three of SO's four worst declines, the S&P 500 held up better over the same dates.
- The longest climb back to a previous high took 19 months, after SO fell 23.3% from August to October 2022.

| Decline | Peak | Low | Back at the high | SPY over the same dates | Market event |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| −38.4% | January 30, 2020 | March 23, 2020 | August 16, 2021 | −31.6% | Covid crash |
| −33.1% | January 28, 1987 | October 19, 1987 | February 13, 1989 | — |  |
| −30.5% | September 18, 2008 | March 12, 2009 | July 26, 2010 | −36.2% | 2008 financial crisis |
| −29.4% | October 5, 1998 | March 14, 2000 | August 25, 2000 | +40.4% | dot-com bust |
| −23.3% | August 19, 2022 | October 12, 2022 | May 3, 2024 | −15.2% | 2022 bear market |

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

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

- SO fell less than the S&P 500 in nine of the ten crashes it has traded through. The clearest case was the dot-com bust, when SO fell 19.0% and the S&P 500 fell 47.5%.
- None of its popular alternatives fell less than SO in most of the crashes they both traded through.

| Crash | Dates | SO fall | SPY fall |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Dot-com bust | March 10, 2000 to October 9, 2002 | −19.0% | −47.5% |
| Global financial crisis | October 9, 2007 to March 9, 2009 | −30.4% | −55.2% |
| Flash crash | May 6, 2010 to May 7, 2010 | 0.0% | −1.5% |
| Euro debt crisis | July 22, 2011 to October 3, 2011 | −5.2% | −17.9% |
| China devaluation & oil rout | August 10, 2015 to February 11, 2016 | −9.4% | −12.8% |
| Volmageddon | February 2, 2018 to February 9, 2018 | −1.9% | −6.5% |
| Q4 2018 selloff | September 21, 2018 to December 24, 2018 | −9.6% | −19.3% |
| COVID crash | February 19, 2020 to March 23, 2020 | −38.1% | −33.7% |
| 2022 bear market | January 4, 2022 to October 12, 2022 | −23.3% | −24.5% |
| SVB / regional bank stress | March 8, 2023 to March 13, 2023 | −1.2% | −3.4% |

### How closely does SO 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, SO captured 41% of the S&P 500's gains in rising months and 20% of its losses in falling months, with a beta of 0.39. That is a defensive profile: it gave up some of the market's upside in exchange for smaller losses.
- Only ETR had a higher capture ratio (upside capture divided by downside capture) than SO's 1.98, out of 21 popular alternatives with the same record.

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

| Investment | Upside capture | Downside capture | Beta |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| SO: The Southern Company (this page) | 41.0% | 20.0% | 0.39 |
| [AEP](https://easycompare.io/research/aep): American Electric Power Company, Inc. | 44.0% | 23.0% | 0.40 |
| PNW: Pinnacle West Capital Corporation | 34.0% | 27.0% | 0.38 |
| [ETR](https://easycompare.io/research/etr): Entergy Corporation | 58.0% | 24.0% | 0.53 |
| BWXT: BWX Technologies, Inc. | 82.0% | 68.0% | 0.87 |
| [NEE](https://easycompare.io/research/nee): NextEra Energy, Inc. | 62.0% | 44.0% | 0.45 |
| [ED](https://easycompare.io/research/ed): Consolidated Edison, Inc. | 31.0% | 18.0% | 0.22 |
| EVRG: Evergy, Inc. | 42.0% | 38.0% | 0.47 |
| [D](https://easycompare.io/research/d): Dominion Energy, Inc. | 43.0% | 70.0% | 0.52 |
| AEE: Ameren Corporation | 51.0% | 33.0% | 0.38 |
| LNT: Alliant Energy Corporation | 50.0% | 45.0% | 0.46 |
| CNP: CenterPoint Energy, Inc. | 57.0% | 62.0% | 0.71 |
| [DUK](https://easycompare.io/research/duk): Duke Energy Corporation | 35.0% | 19.0% | 0.33 |
| PPL: PPL Corporation | 52.0% | 77.0% | 0.65 |
| [XEL](https://easycompare.io/research/xel): Xcel Energy Inc. | 41.0% | 24.0% | 0.35 |
| WEC: WEC Energy Group, Inc. | 41.0% | 23.0% | 0.34 |
| FE: FirstEnergy Corp. | 40.0% | 33.0% | 0.36 |
| [EXC](https://easycompare.io/research/exc): Exelon Corporation | 40.0% | 21.0% | 0.37 |
| PEG: Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated | 52.0% | 47.0% | 0.53 |
| DTE: DTE Energy Company | 47.0% | 42.0% | 0.50 |
| CMS: CMS Energy Corporation | 35.0% | 23.0% | 0.28 |
| ES: Eversource Energy | 49.0% | 61.0% | 0.52 |

### What diversifies SO?

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 SO into DXJ would have cut the portfolio's volatility by 17% over the past 5 years and raised its annual return (+9.9% for SO alone, +13.5% for the mix).
- FIX made money in four of the five calendar years in which SO lost money.
- Among large ETFs, LVHI, DXJ and MLPX have moved largely independently of SO over the past 5 years, with correlations of 0.46 or lower, and each still earned a positive 5-year return.

| Investment | Correlation with SO | 5Y return | Volatility | Sharpe | Rose in SO's 5 down years |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| LVHI: Franklin International Low Volatility High Dividend Index ETF | 0.46 | +119% | 11.1% | 1.48 | 0 of 5 |
| DXJ: WisdomTree Japan Hedged Equity Fund | 0.11 | +225% | 19.1% | 1.34 | 3 of 5 |
| MLPX: Global X - MLP & Energy Infrastructure ETF | 0.42 | +135% | 19.7% | 0.97 | 0 of 5 |
| [SMH](https://easycompare.io/research/smh): VanEck Semiconductor ETF | 0.10 | +323% | 36.9% | 0.97 | 2 of 5 |
| DBEF: Xtrackers MSCI EAFE Hedged Equity ETF | 0.34 | +85.0% | 13.8% | 0.96 | 2 of 5 |
| [GLD](https://easycompare.io/research/gld): SPDR Gold Shares | 0.30 | +126% | 18.9% | 0.96 | 2 of 5 |
| SPMO: Invesco S&P 500 Momentum ETF | 0.16 | +136% | 20.8% | 0.93 | 0 of 5 |
| [XLE](https://easycompare.io/research/xle): State Street Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF | 0.26 | +177% | 25.5% | 0.93 | 3 of 5 |

## Common questions

### What was SO's worst drawdown?

SO's deepest decline since it began trading in 1986 was 38.4%, from January to March 2020. It took 17 months from the low to climb back to its old high.

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

Over 29 full calendar years, SO's best year was 2019, when it returned 51.6%. Its worst was 1999, with a return of -14.9%.

### Is there a better investment than SO?

Among SO's popular alternatives, AEP and PNW were ahead of SO in most short and long periods. Looking beyond its popular alternatives, ATO (gas utilities) earned more for the risk it took than SO over the past 5 years, and its worst fall in 10 years was 32.9%, against 38.4% for SO.

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

Yes. SO's volatility over the past 5 years was 18.8%, 1.1 times the S&P 500's 17.1%. Volatility measures how widely returns swing around their average: in roughly two years out of three, SO's return lands within 18.8% 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 SO's Sharpe ratio?

SO's Sharpe ratio over the past 5 years was 0.67, against 0.79 for the S&P 500, so SO 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 SO with the S&P 500?

Over the past 5 years, SO'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 SO instead: the lower it is, the more that option would diversify a SO holding.

### What are the best alternatives to SO?

Of the 25 popular alternatives we compared, two outperformed SO in at least 3 of 5 short-term and 2 of 3 long-term timeframes, with dividends reinvested: AEP and PNW.

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

SO finished ahead of the S&P 500 (SPY) in 13 of 29 full calendar years. In 2025, it returned +9.5%, against +17.7% for the index.

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

SO fell less than the S&P 500 (SPY) in nine of the ten major crashes it has traded through, and further in one. The clearest case was the dot-com bust, when SO fell 19.0% and the S&P 500 fell 47.5%.

### What diversifies SO?

These had a low correlation with SO over the past 5 years and still earned a positive 5-year return: among large ETFs, LVHI (correlation 0.46), DXJ (correlation 0.11) and MLPX (correlation 0.42); among large stocks, CAH (correlation 0.29), CLS (correlation 0.01) and FIX (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://easycompare.io/research/so
- All research pages: https://easycompare.io/llms.txt
- Compare the entire market against SO live: https://betterthanspy.com/?b=SO&utm_source=easycompare&utm_medium=research