Performance of the S&P Sectors since 1999. Some might be surprised to see that despite the recent carnage in energy, the 17 yr return on Energy XLE (185%) is only currently outdone by Consumer Discretionary XLY (198%) and is still ahead of Healthcare XLV (163%) for now. However, looking at the next 5-10 yrs it seem very reasonable to expect XLE to underperform the broader market.