“Financials actually began the year as one of the most beaten-down sectors of the market, trailing other big sectors like tech. But there has steadily been a rotation out of growth stocks like big tech and into financials and industrials, in particular, Tepper noted,” reports CNBC.
Despite the early year lethargy, XLF is sporting a fourth-quarter gain of over 10% and the ETF has seen fourth-quarter inflows of $2.95 billion. Only six ETFs have added more new assets this quarter than XLF and none of those funds are sector ETFs.
On the back of three interest rate hikes this year and more coming in 2018, the financial services sector could be working its way into a period of long-term out-performance. The recent rally in the sector could still be in the early innings, according to some market observers.
For more information on the financial sector, visit our financial category.