Invesco has announced that the PowerShares KBW Bank Portfolio ETF (KBWB US) has surpassed $1 billion in assets under management.

Dan Draper, global head of ETFs at Invesco.

Launched in November 2011 in partnership with Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, a specialist financial sector investment bank, the fund provides exposure to the equity of large publicly traded US national money centres, regional banks, and thrift institutions. The fund tracks the KBW Nasdaq Bank Index, a float-adjusted, modified market-cap weighted index that currently has 24 constituents.

“Passing the $1 billion milestone demonstrates the value of KBWB for investors looking for targeted access to the largest US banks,” said Fred Cannon, global director of research at KBW. “Our research shows that banks of varying sizes operate with distinctively different business models, leading to diverse performance and valuation trends. Investors benefit from KBWB’s targeted inclusion of large-cap banks, and as the only true large-cap bank ETF, we are proud to see the fund’s growth since its inception in November 2011.”

Since June, the financial sector has significantly outperformed the broader market – the S&P 500 Financials Index gained 17.9% while the S&P 500 Index rose 8.8% as of 1 December – resulting in an increased interest in investible financial services products. According to Invesco, the largest banks drove much of the financials’ performance, with KBWB advancing 17.6% over this period.

“We continue to see strong interest in KBWB,” said Dan Draper, global head of ETFs at Invesco. “That is likely the result of market optimism toward stronger economic growth, corporate tax reform and higher interest rates, which overall has created an improved outlook for banks.”

The fund has a total expense ratio (TER) of 0.30%.