According to Fidelity’s analysis, while company-specific factors have been the top driver of stock returns in the U.S. equity market over the past 20 years, sector exposure has been the second most influential driver, accounting for roughly 22 percent of U.S. equity market returns, as measured by the Russell 3000 Index, more than style and market cap combined, Fidelity said in a statement.
The largest U.S. sector ETF is XLF with $15.4 billion in assets. XLF along with the technology, health care, energy, industrial and consumer discretionary SPDRS rank among the 50 largest U.S. ETFs.
To accompany the launch of its sector funds, Fidelity launched the Sector Portfolio Builder tool, which allows investors to build and model hypothetical sector-based portfolios, as well as compare the historical performance and risk of those portfolios to benchmark indices.
Fidelity has already filed preliminary registration statements with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for five actively managed fixed income ETFs, which are pending approval. Once launched, these new ETFs will be managed by investment professionals in Fidelity’s Fixed Income division in Merrimack, New Hampshire, according to the statement.