WisdomTree U.S. Total Dividend Fund

This is a fund you can almost set a calendar by, and July is the anchor — it has closed higher in all 10 Julys, the steadiest beat on its year.

The strength looks broad-based rather than freakish: its average (+2.6%) and median (+3.0%) sit close together, so no single blow-out year is flattering the figure. No month is steadier: July's returns vary by just 1.5% year to year, and even its worst July in 10 years lost only 0.4% — the gentlest downside anywhere on its calendar. Set against the S&P 500, mind, July is close to a wash — the gain mirrors the market more than it beats it. Few peers keep such company in July — the typical stock clears it just 61% of the time.

The lift is near-universal — strength runs through almost every month of the year, not one window. At the other end of the calendar, October is the year's low point, though even there the fund has stayed positive on average (+0.5%), a sign every month leans up, and the edge isn't year-round — the fund has trailed the S&P 500 in March, December, and September. Its roughest month on record was a −19.5% March in 2020 — a reminder of how hard even a seasonal name can fall.

July has now closed higher 10 years running. Reassuringly, the tendency has held its shape: the recent five years still track the years behind them.

For a fund this dependable in July, the sharper question is the rest of the year — outside its strong stretch, the calendar gives far less to lean on.