On Thursday, Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) said John Mack will step down as chairman and leave the board as expected at the end of 2011. Morgan Stanley shares were down 42.6% year to date as of Wednesday, highlighting the pain in the banking sector in 2011. Investors are concerned over a slowing global economy, Europe’s debt crisis and new regulations for banks.
The financial ETF is down roughly 20% so far this year. It continues to underperform the S&P 500 on a relative basis (see second chart below).
Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund
