By Dan Lefkovitz of Morningstar

Investors brave enough to peek at their account statements know that it’s been a rocky 2025.

Even before tariff-related volatility, DeepSeek AI’s launch clouded the major technology theme that powered the market in 2023 and 2024, as AI stocks entered a bear market in March.

But there have been equity gains to be had in 2025. When I look at year-to-date returns across indexes , I notice a few surprising stars: European stocks, Latin America, and real estate investment trusts.

The common thread that connects the three? All had been underperformers in prior years.

European stocks have been made great again

Morningstar’s European stock index is riding high this year, as the macroeconomic environment has been improving. The financial-services sector,

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