Investing in the stock market goes far beyond selecting a profitable company. The key to portfolio diversification is understanding how the stock market is organized so you can allocate your funds accordingly. Read on to learn about stock sectors that are popular both in Australia and around the world.
What are stock sectors?
Stock sectors help investors organize stocks. According to the Global Industry Classification Standard (GICS), there are 11 economic stock sectors, that are further subdivided into 24 industry groups, 68 industries and 157 subindustries.
The GICS was developed by Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) and Standard & Poors (S&P) in 1999 to help global companies and investors compare and sort stocks. The system is used by MSCI indexes and has been modified many times since its inception to account for major shifts in the global economy.
Energy
Companies that make a profit from oil, natural gas and coal fit into the energy sector. This includes companies that help locate, mine, produce, refine or market fuel. The profitability of this stock sector relies on the price of crude oil but stock prices tend to be stable and often pay large dividends.
Companies that process raw materials fit into the materials sector. These companies typically sell to other businesses at the head of the supply chain. They provide manufacturing staples like oil, natural gas, metal, paper and chemicals.
Popular companies in the materials sector include:
The industrial sector consists largely of companies that produce aircraft, construction and agriculture equipment, and industrial machinery. These companies tend to generate positive cash flow and pay regular dividends.
A number of big-name, blue-chip stocks come from the industrials sector, including:
Businesses in the consumer discretionary sector include companies that sell nonessential services and products to consumers. These are services and products consumers purchase with discretionary income — that portion of their income left after paying taxes and essential living expenses. Businesses in this sector include automobile, retail, hotels, restaurants and luxury goods.
A variety of companies crop up in this sector, including:
The consumer staples sector is filled with companies that manufacture and distribute essential goods and services like food, household goods and personal care products. This sector is especially well-positioned to weather recessions because people continue to purchase these goods and services, even during an economic downturn.
The healthcare sector is made up of four major pillars: medical services, healthcare equipment, biotech services and pharmaceuticals. These businesses are typically well-positioned to weather the ups and downs of the market.
The financial sector includes banks, insurance providers and real estate firms. Revenue generated in this sector is directly correlated with interest rates on mortgages and other loans.
This sector is where you’ll encounter the financial big wigs:
Information technology companies manufacture, develop and distribute software and electronics. This sector is deeply rooted in Silicon Valley and operates as one of the leading stock sectors of the 21st century.
Tech giants in the information technology sector include:
Media, entertainment and communications companies form the backbone of the telecom sector. Here, you’ll encounter Internet service providers, streaming services, cable companies and more. With the advent of the Internet, this sector was forced to evolve alongside our consumption habits.
Many will recognize the businesses that belong to the telecom sector:
Businesses in this sector provide water, gas and electricity. These businesses have little competition thanks to the high cost of entry but the prices they charge are strictly controlled by local governments. Like consumer staples, an investment in the utilities sector is considered a safe bet during market downturns because of how essential utilities are.
In the real estate sector, we find developers, management firms and real estate investment trusts (REITs). These companies own and operate commercial real estate that includes apartment buildings, shopping malls, office parks and more. Rent income and property value provide revenue and shareholders receive dividends.
If you’d like to invest in a particular sector of the stock market, consider exchange-traded funds, or ETFs. ETFs are funds that contain a collection of securities — typically stocks or bonds — that track a particular stock sector or index. ETFs can be bought and sold for a single price like stocks and offer investors in Australia the opportunity to gain exposure to a specific industry sector.
Each sector has many ETFs to choose from. While you can purchase individual stocks within each sector, ETFs offer a basket of sector-specific investments that can help protect against market volatility.
Here are some of the most popular ETFs available in each sector for Australians to invest in:
Finder survey: Which sectors do Australians most commonly hold stocks in?
Response
Banking and finance
49.1%
Mining
39.22%
Technology and IT
32.93%
Energy
29.04%
Telecommunication
27.54%
Healthcare
25.45%
Food and beverage
20.06%
Property
16.47%
Gold
16.17%
Lithium
14.97%
Iron Ore
13.47%
Renewable energy
11.98%
Coal
8.98%
Biotechnology
8.68%
Artificial Intelligence
6.59%
Cannabis
3.29%
Source: Finder survey by Pure Profile of 1145 Australians, December 2023
Stock sectors and portfolio diversification
Stock sectors offer Australian investors the opportunity to diversify their portfolios. The stock market can be impacted by a variety of factors, including world events, exchange rates, interest rates and global politics.
Spreading your investments across multiple stock sectors can help reduce portfolio risk when a major event impacts the stock market. Instead of pooling your eggs in a single basket, spread your investments across multiple stock sectors and industries to broaden your opportunities, while reducing losses triggered by market volatility.
Important: The standard brokerage fee displayed is the trade cost for new customers to purchase $1,000 of either Australian or US shares. Where a platform charges different fees for both US and Australian shares we show the lower of the two. Where both CHESS sponsored and custodian shares are offered, we display the cheapest option.
Bottom line
There are many ways to invest in the stock market in Australia, and understanding the major stock sectors can help you decide where you’d like to invest and how to broaden the reach of your investment portfolio.
To invest, you’ll need to sign up for a brokerage account with a trading platform in Australia. Explore your trading options across multiple platforms to ensure you find the best account for your investment goals.
Defensive stock sectors typically maintain their earnings during recessions, making them better positioned to weather economic downturns than other sectors.
Many trading platforms in Australia come equipped with research tools and reports that offer stock sector performance indicators. Or you can do your own research using resources from third-party providers like Morningstar and Bloomberg.
Disclaimer: This information should not be interpreted as an endorsement of futures, stocks, ETFs, CFDs, options or any specific provider, service or offering. It should not be relied upon as investment advice or construed as providing recommendations of any kind. Futures, stocks, ETFs and options trading involves substantial risk of loss and therefore are not appropriate for all investors. Trading CFDs and forex on leverage comes with a higher risk of losing money rapidly. Past performance is not an indication of future results. Consider your own circumstances, and obtain your own advice, before making any trades. Read the Product Disclosure Statement (PDS) and Target Market Determination (TMD) for the product on the provider's website.
Shannon Terrell is a writer for Finder who studied communications and English literature at the University of Toronto. On any given day, you can find her researching everything from equine financing and business loans to student debt refinancing and how to start a trust. She loves hot coffee, the smell of fresh books and discovering new ways to save her pennies.
How likely would you be to recommend finder to a friend or colleague?
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Very UnlikelyExtremely Likely
Required
Thank you for your feedback.
Our goal is to create the best possible product, and your thoughts, ideas and suggestions play a major role in helping us identify opportunities to improve.
Important information about this website
finder.com.au is one of Australia's leading comparison websites. We are committed to our readers and stands by our editorial principles
We try to take an open and transparent approach and provide a broad-based comparison service. However, you should be aware that while we are an independently owned service, our comparison service does not include all providers or all products available in the market.
Some product issuers may provide products or offer services through multiple brands, associated companies or different labeling arrangements. This can make it difficult for consumers to compare alternatives or identify the companies behind the products. However, we aim to provide information to enable consumers to understand these issues.
We make money by featuring products on our site. Compensation received from the providers featured on our site can influence which products we write about as well as where and how products appear on our page, but the order or placement of these products does not influence our assessment or opinions of them, nor is it an endorsement or recommendation for them.
Products marked as 'Top Pick', 'Promoted' or 'Advertisement' are prominently displayed either as a result of a commercial advertising arrangement or to highlight a particular product, provider or feature. Finder may receive remuneration from the Provider if you click on the related link, purchase or enquire about the product. Finder's decision to show a 'promoted' product is neither a recommendation that the product is appropriate for you nor an indication that the product is the best in its category. We encourage you to use the tools and information we provide to compare your options.
Where our site links to particular products or displays 'Go to site' buttons, we may receive a commission, referral fee or payment when you click on those buttons or apply for a product. You can learn more about how we make money.
When products are grouped in a table or list, the order in which they are initially sorted may be influenced by a range of factors including price, fees and discounts; commercial partnerships; product features; and brand popularity. We provide tools so you can sort and filter these lists to highlight features that matter to you.
Please read our website terms of use and privacy policy for more information about our services and our approach to privacy.
