Asset managers, capital markets lead financial stocks 2021 rally

Remember 2020 when the financial sector was one of the worst performers in the U.S. stock market? Sentiment turned for the better in 2021 as the economy rebounded and analysts started pulling up estimates for when the Fed will boost rates. Money was cheap and plentiful — good for asset prices, M&A, and equity trading, but bad for companies relying on net interest income for profits. For 2021, the broad financial sector, as represented by XLF (NYSEARCA:XLF) rose 33% vs. 5.5% decline in 2020. And while strong, it still trailed Energy, up 46% in 2021, Real Estate, up 41%, and Technology, up 34%, as shown in graph: See the 2020 performance of XLF, XLE, XLRE, and XLK against the S&P 500 in the graph below: Let's dig into financial subsectors to see which ones fared best and what that means for the coming year. By financial segment, asset manager stocks climbed