Financials, the second-largest sector in the S&P 500, has had its fair share of ups and downs in recent years. As the Federal Reserve kicked off its aggressive rate-hiking campaign in 2022, the yield curve inverted, loan growth slowed and M&A activity plummeted, all of which hampered earnings growth. Then, in March 2023, the failures of several U.S. regional banks sparked concerns about the health of the banking sector and commercial real estate market. The dust from this crisis gradually settled, which, in conjunction with Fed rate cuts and a resilient consumer, helped the sector gain over 30% in 2024. In fact, financial deregulation is now top of mind, with the Trump administration recently naming “regulatory dove” Michelle Bowman as the Federal Reserve’s next Vice Chair of Supervision. Prospects for increased deregulation, in addition to trends in consumer spending, will be key themes moving forward. Companies in financials tend to be represented in the value style and can be a good complement to growth exposure, especially the Magnificent 7.

On this episode of Insights Now, Gabriela Santos is joined by Laura Huang, an equity research analyst covering financials at J.P. Morgan Asset Management, to discuss Laura’s day-to-day, and what she is seeing across her sector.

Watch the video version on YouTube.

Resources:

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