At the end of each year, LPL reviews what it got right and what it got wrong.
In a recent commentary by LPL Research, the firm reviewed its equity hits and misses in 2017.
"Postmortems can help us learn from our missteps and reinforce the processes that led to our successful recommendations," LPL says.
Hits
Emerging markets
According to LPL, its bullish call on emerging markets (EM) equities was one of its biggest hits in 2017. The MSCI EM Index returned 38% for the year, and EM equities benefited from the synchronized global economic expansion, commodity stability, a weak U.S. dollar and relative political stability.
LPL says it maintains this recommendation for 2018.
Technology
LPL also favored technology throughout 2017. The technology sector, which was the year's top performing sector with a 39% return, benefited from strong earnings growth. Tech also benefited from several powerful trends such as mobility, cloud computing and artificial intelligence, according to LPL.
LPL also maintain this recommendation as 2018 begins, although it notes outperformance may moderate.
Health Care
According to LPL, it favored health care throughout most of the year. The sector outperformed the S&P 500 Index during the period it was recommended. LPL tempered its enthusiasm for the sector in November.
"We correctly predicted the spending from the Affordable Care Act would remain intact, although uncertainty remains as 2018 begins," LPL says.
