A pair of new polls by SumZero asked 12,000 buy-side members of the finance industry where investors should be putting their money in 2016. The stock market is off to a bumpy start, but the volatility and uncertainty only make stock and sector selection even more important.

In terms of 2016 being a bounce-back year, SumZero asked which lagging 2015 sector (energy, materials, utilities, industrials or financials) will perform best this year. Respondents preferred the energy sector (35.5 percent) by a wide margin over financials (21.1 percent), which came in a distant second. The materials and industrials sectors tied for the lowest number of votes at just 12.2 percent each.

So far in 2016, the Energy Select Sector SPDR (ETF) XLE 0.09% has traded down about 6.6 percent, mostly in line with the S&P 500’s decline.

Best Buys

In addition to preferred sectors, SumZero also asked…

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