Last week, the Commerce Department said U.S. GDP jumped 4.1% in the second quarter, good for the best GDP growth number since the third quarter of 2014. As has been widely documented, small-cap stocks and the related ETFs are benefiting from robust U.S. economic growth.
At the sector level, that includes financial services stocks and ETFs such as the Invesco S&P SmallCap Financials Portfolio (NASDAQ: PSCF).
“On average for every 1% of GDP growth, the S&P SmallCap 600 has risen 5.2%, while S&P MidCap 400 and S&P 500 have risen a respective 4.9% and 4.0%. Within small caps, the financials, health care and energy sectors have risen most with growth, gaining on average 6.9%, 6.4% and 6.3%, respectively for every 1% of GDP growth,” according to S&P Dow Jones Indices.
PSCF tracks the S&P SmallCap 600 Capped Financials & Real Estate Index, an offshoot of the widely followed S&P SmallCap 600 Index. PSCF is up nearly 7% year-to-date, putting it well ahead of comparable large-cap financial services ETFs.
More On PSCF’s GDP Benefits
PSCF’s 130 holdings “are principally engaged in the business of providing services and products, including banking, investment services, insurance and real estate finance services,” according to Invesco.
The average market capitalization of PSCF’s holdings is $1.96 billion, putting the fund at the higher end of small-cap territory.