THE S&P500 rallied following last week’s election results, climbing 3.8% since November 5 at Wednesday’s prices. But not all stock market sectors participated.

Investment management company Vanguard offers low-cost exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that track the performance of each of the 11 sectors that make up the stock market under the Global Industry Classification Standard. Each of these funds has an annual expense ratio of 0.1%, charging just a penny for every $100 invested, making them an inexpensive way to target any sector that particularly interests you.

Here is why the Vanguard Utilities ETF (NYSEMKT:VPU), Vanguard Consumer Staples ETF (NYSEMKT:VDC)And Vanguard Healthcare ETF (NYSEMKT:VHT) have been lagging the S&P 500 since the election results and whether any of these ETFs are worth buying now.

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1. Vanguard Utilities ETF

The Vanguard Utilities ETF ended September up 27% year-to-date (YTD), making it the best-performing Vanguard sector ETF at the time. But the fund fell in October, probably due to valuation problemsand it is down slightly since Election Day. As of Wednesday’s prices, the fund is up 23% year to date, slightly underperforming the S&P 500’s 26% gain.

The stock market hates uncertainty, so utilities were a natural choice for nervous investors looking for relatively safe investments. The majority of the Vanguard Utilities ETF’s holdings are in regulated electric utilities. These companies work with government agencies and regulators to set prices, which limits their growth potential but generates stable cash flow. This predictability is ideal for paying growing dividends.

Electric, natural gas and water utilities benefit from population growth and increased resource consumption, which can make them long-term winners. But utilities lack the cyclicality of sectors like manufacturing or finance, which generated big gains after election results because they could benefit from easing regulation and reshoring of industrial and manufacturing production.

Additionally, lower interest rates would benefit the utility sector. Many utilities have heavily leveraged balance sheets because they have financed capital-intensive projects to diversify their exposure to renewable energy. An administration more friendly to oil and gas and offering fewer incentives for renewable energy could make these investments less attractive.

All things considered, the liquidation in the utilities sector makes sense. However, the Vanguard Utilities ETF could still attract passive income investors as its yield is 2.9%.

2. Vanguard Consumer Staples ETF

Top holdings in the Vanguard Consumer Staples ETF include familiar names like Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG), Costco wholesale (NASDAQ: COST), Walmart (NYSE:WMT)And Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO). Not long ago, these four stocks were hovering around their all-time highs. But some major consumer staples companies, including P&G and Coke, have removed after announcing disappointing results and decline in sales volumes. Meanwhile, Walmart and Costco have crushed the market year-to-date, up 59.6% and 38.4%, respectively. As of midday as of Wednesday, the ETF had risen just 0.2% since Election Day.

The Vanguard Consumer Staples ETF could sink due to the challenges facing big stocks like P&G and Coke and the now-strained valuations of companies like Walmart and Costco. Another reason could be that investors are moving their assets into more growth-oriented companies in response to the election results. Like utilities, consumer staples benefit from increased consumption and a growing population, but they fall far short of the growth potential of cyclical sectors like industrials, consumer discretionary or finance.

With a yield of 2.6%, the Vanguard Consumer Staples ETF remains a solid source of passive income, which is worth considering for risk-averse investors. However, it’s worth noting that two of the ETF’s top 10 holdings are tobacco-focused companies, Philip Morris And Altria Group. Investors who are uncomfortable with these names may prefer to choose individually high-yield consumer staples actions instead.

3. Vanguard HealthCare ETF

The composition of this healthcare sector fund has changed significantly in recent years, in part due to the drugmaker’s significant market capitalization gains. Elie Lilly (NYSE:LLY) and insurance giant UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH). Together, these two companies now represent nearly 20% of the Vanguard Health Care ETF, eclipsing former industry leaders like Johnson & Johnson.

The healthcare sector is unusual because it includes growth-oriented biotech companies as well as heavy dividend-paying value stocks like Merck.

Health care policy is a major topic of conversation between the two major American political parties. The sector’s underperformance could simply be due to uncertainty over the impact new policies might have on it. Major moves in major healthcare stocks also have an impact.

Eli Lilly stock has fallen more than 12% since the company reported its third-quarter results on October 30. Merck has been in freefall for months and is hovering around a 52-week low. Meanwhile, UnitedHealth and Intuitive surgical recently reached all-time highs after stellar quarterly reports.

Overall, things are currently mixed in the healthcare sector, and this ETF is down 0.3% since the election. While this remains a great way to invest in a broader sector, some investors may prefer to target a certain sector or mix of companies rather than purchasing the ETF. For example, risk-averse investors may prefer to hold cheaper, higher-yielding securities, while risk-tolerant investors may prefer to buy stocks of fastest growing biotechnology companies even if they trade at premium valuations.

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Daniel Foelber has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool posts and recommends Costco Wholesale, Intuitive Surgical, Merck and Walmart. The Motley Fool recommends Johnson & Johnson, Philip Morris International and UnitedHealth Group. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.