I feel a little bit vindicated today.  In mid-March I hypothesized that Death Care stocks may be overlooked as a “defensive position” by the market.  At that time I researched that thought using only the first ten days (March 2-March 12) of the Iran operation “Epic Fury” as my timeline and wrote this article on the subject.

As I had thought, stocks in general took a hit during that tumultous time with the S&P 500 losing 3.3% in value over that ten-day period.  I then compared that with the performance of the Death Care Index (DCI) over the same 10-day period and was surprised that what I thought might be “defensive positions”, simply by nature of the Death Care business, was not the reality of the situation.  What I thought was a  “defensive DCI” position had actually lost twice as much in value (6.7%) as had the S&P 500.

However, ten days is not a very long time.  As I was preparing to do my report on the Death Care Index for the 1st Quarter of 2026 (January 1 through March 31), I made an interesting discovery. . . . . .For one of the first times, and maybe even the very first time since I’ve been doing this reporting with Funeral Director Daily, the Death Care Index, and each component of it, has outperformed all three of the major indexes (Dow Jones, Nasdaq, and S&P 500) for an entire quarter.

As you can see from the chart below, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, Nasdaq, and the S&P 500 have declined in value by 3.6%, 7.1%, and 4.4% respectively for the First Quarter of 2026.  And, from the same chart you can see that all four of the components of the DCI have performed better than those declines with three of the four DCI stocks showing positive performance for the quarter  — only Matthews International saw a loss in value and it was smaller than any of the index losses.

As a matter of fact, while many investors have suffered portfolio declines during the 1st Quarter of 2026, if you had been invested only in the DCI you would be seeing an aggregate increase of 5.2% to your portfolio.

*The Funeral Director Daily Death Care Index is arrived at by adding the dollar values of one share of stock of each of the four Death Care companies — Service Corporation International, Carriage Services, Matthews International, and Security National Financial Corporation.

Tom Anderson
Funeral Director Daily

Funeral Director Daily take:  When you look at the DCI three of the four component companies operate, at least in part, in funeral services and cemetery operations.  I’m still of the opinion that the fundamentals of those companies move forward, for the most part, regardless of the current temporary state of an economy.  And, for periods of time, I think that can be a “defensive” portfolio position during certain cycles.

As I look more into the funeral service and cemetery companies they seem to have the dual properties of both being historically growth oriented (through acquisitions and organically) and defensive – by the constant nature of the needs of those families that suffer deaths.  I think that is a pretty good combination . . . . especially in uncertain times.

Disclaimer — The author of this article for Funeral Director Daily is a shareholder of Service Corporation International, Carriage Services, and Security National Financial Corporation.

More news from the world of Death Care:

• In death planning, greener options are becoming more popular in Whatcom County.  Cascadia Daily News (WA)
• Paying families of organ donors would save lives, these economists say.  Little Rock Public Radio – NPR (AR)
• Direct cremation boom leaves some families with unexpected regrets, experts warn.  eziFunerals Newsroom (Australia)
• Acts of Care – One young East Texas woman finds her calling in a difficult profession.  East Texas News (TX)

Enter your e-mail below to join the 3,201 others who receive Funeral Director Daily articles daily

“A servant’s attitude guided by Christ leads to a significant life”