Investing Assets & Markets Bonds The 3 Best Financial Funds To Hold for the Long Term Why You Should Buy Financial Sector Funds and Which Ones Are Best By Kent Thune Updated on February 23, 2022 Reviewed by Thomas J. Brock Reviewed by Thomas J. Brock Thomas J. Brock is a CFA and CPA with more than 20 years of experience in various areas including investing, insurance portfolio management, finance and accounting, personal investment and financial planning advice, and development of educational materials about life insurance and annuities. learn about our financial review board Fact checked by Lakshna Mehta In This Article View All In This Article What Are Financial Funds? Best Financial Funds to Buy The Bottom Line Control over your finances can give you peace of mind. Photo: Chris Ryan/Caiaimage/Getty Images Financial funds are stock mutual funds or exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that invest primarily in financial stocks. Investors typically buy financial funds for strategic reasons, such as adding exposure during economic environments where financial stocks can outperform the major market indices. Find out if financial funds are right for you and your investment goals. What Are Financial Funds? Also known as financial sector funds, financial funds invest primarily in stocks of companies that are in the business of providing financial products and services to consumers. Examples of businesses in the financial sector include banks, credit card companies, insurance companies, and brokerage firms. Examples of financial stocks include JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Bank of America (BAC) and Berkshire-Hathaway (BRK.A, BRK.B). The Outlook for Financial Funds Now may be a great time to invest in financial stocks. Interest rates are set to increase, which is good for lenders. Moreover, companies in the financial industry are finding new ways to increase profits, leveraging cutting-edge technologies to deliver an array of enhanced products and services to consumers at a low cost. All of this is bolstered by the aging baby boomer generation. Born between 1946 and 1964, baby boomers are either in retirement now or are nearing retirement age, which is dramatically increasing the demand for financial products and services. The heightened demand is not expected to wane. Over the next 25 years, it is estimated that the greatest transfer of wealth in history will occur, as the children of baby boomers, Generation X, inherit their parents' assets. Note This transfer of wealth is estimated to be $48 trillion. Best Financial Funds To Buy for the Long Term When choosing financial funds and other sector funds, investors generally have a choice between actively managed funds, index funds, and specialty funds. Also, the financial funds may be either mutual funds or exchange-traded funds (ETFs). Since sector funds may come in and out of favor, making it difficult to time the purchase of the funds, investors are wise to buy with the intention of holding for the long term (several years or more). Here are three of the best financial funds to buy for the long term: Davis Financial Fund (RPFGX): Perhaps the best actively-managed financial fund on the market, Davis Financial benefits from a long history of investing in financial stocks. Fund manager Christopher Davis has been either an analyst or manager at Davis funds for 30 years. This experience has helped to boost long-term returns (five years or longer) ahead of at least two-thirds of other financial sector funds. RPFGX has a front load of 4.75% and an expense ratio of 0.96% (as of May 2021). Some investors may qualify for load-waived shares, which do not have a sales charge. Fidelity Select Banking (FSRBX): If you want to focus on the banking sub-sector within the broader financial sector, FSRBX is a smart choice. The fund primarily invests in large U.S. banks, such as Wells Fargo (WFC), PNC Financial Services (PNC) and CitiGroup (C). Expenses for FSRBX are 0.79% as of May 2021. Vanguard Financials ETF (VFH): Investors wanting a low-cost index fund that invests in a broad variety of financial stocks will like what they see in VFH. The portfolio tracks the MSCI US Investable Market Index, which consists of more than 400 stocks in the financial sector. Expenses for VFH are just 0.10%. The Bottom Line Investors are wise to maintain a long-term outlook for financial funds. In the short term, financial stocks may have already put in their best gains. However, the long-term outlook remains healthy for financial funds. Along with the technology and health sectors, the financial sector has a strong growth outlook. Macroeconomic factors, such as an aging population and advances in productivity from technology, will likely continue to support financial stocks. Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit Sources The Balance uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy. Cerulli Associates. "The Great Wealth Transfer."