Investing for Beginners , investing

Sector is a segment of an economy that distinguishes oneself by some characteristics that belongs to that segment. There are a lot of different classifications used in practice to classify different business segments and some of those are really confusing. 

The most large-scale is classification of the economy, where three economical sectors are separated: agriculture, industry and services.

Another popular classification is Global Industry Classification Standard (GICS) which separates these main sectors: energy, materials, industrials, consumer discretionary, consumer staples, health care, financials, IT, telecommunications and utilities. And most of these sectors are further divided in industry groups. 

Main sectors

Yet, most of the investment companies have their own classification, which is more practical. For example, all companies are divided in these sectors: automobiles, financials, basic resources, chemicals & refinery, construction & real estate, food & beverages, healthcare, industrials, media, retail, IT, telecoms, utilities, travel.