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Clients who were in precious metals and energy in 2016 enjoyed the biggest category comeback stories of the year. In the case of energy, this was partly due to plunging oil prices in 2014 and 2015, which created a low base for a subsequent percentage increase. Commodities were also helped by unexpectedly strong growth in China, as well as OPEC's deal with member nations, said Tom Roseen, head of research services at Lipper.

Still, though, when taking a longer-term view of three to five years, both energy and precious metals are still down, notes Andrew Daniels, equity strategies analyst at Morningstar.

Another notable result was the small-cap comeback, Daniels said. Those smaller companies have historically outperformed large-caps, although that has not been the case over the previous couple of years. He noted that the potential for fiscal stimulus (spending on infrastructure as one example) can create potential growth for small-caps.

Lipper's Roseen summed up by saying that chasing performance can be hazardous to a client's portfolio, noting that "last year’s cellar dwellers turned into this year’s darlings."

Scroll through to see all the big comeback market stories. Comebacks were measured by the largest percentage point increase in 2016 year-to-date performance over 2015 performance. All data is from Morningstar.
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20. Miscellaneous Region

2015 Return: -7.34%
2016 YTD Return: 7.72%
Differential in 2015 & 2016 YTD Returns (% Points): 15.06
Net Assets (millions): $3,511
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19. Infrastructure

2015 Return: -9.31%
2016 YTD Return: 6.62%
Differential in 2015 & 2016 YTD Returns (% Points): 15.93
Net Assets (millions): $12,175
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18. High Yield Bond

2015 Return: -4.12%
2016 YTD Return: 12.05%
Differential in 2015 & 2016 YTD Returns (% Points): 16.17
Net Assets (millions): $263,768
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17. Financial

2015 Return: -0.83%
2016 YTD Return: 16.40%
Differential in 2015 & 2016 YTD Returns (% Points): 17.23
Net Assets (millions): $8,666
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16. Large Value

2015 Return: -3.86%
2016 YTD Return: 13.48%
Differential in 2015 & 2016 YTD Returns (% Points): 17.34
Net Assets (millions): $877,860
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15. Mid-Cap Blend

2015 Return: -4.56%
2016 YTD Return: 13.83%
Differential in 2015 & 2016 YTD Returns (% Points): 18.39
Net Assets (millions): $254,364
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14. Utilities

2015 Return: -10.21%
2016 YTD Return: 9.35%
Differential in 2015 & 2016 YTD Returns (% Points): 19.56
Net Assets (millions): $21,591
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13. Industrials

2015 Return: -4.57%
2016 YTD Return: 17.21%
Differential in 2015 & 2016 YTD Returns (% Points): 21.78
Net Assets (millions): $3,740
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12. Diversified Emerging Mkts

2015 Return: -13.67%
2016 YTD Return: 8.31%
Differential in 2015 & 2016 YTD Returns (% Points): 21.99
Net Assets (millions): $291,993
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11. Trading-Leveraged Equity

2015 Return: -5.51%
2016 YTD Return: 17.04%
Differential in 2015 & 2016 YTD Returns (% Points): 22.55
Net Assets (millions): $3,221
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10. Mid-Cap Value

2015 Return: -5.19%
2016 YTD Return: 17.49%
Differential in 2015 & 2016 YTD Returns (% Points): 22.68
Net Assets (millions): $190,381
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9. Emerging Markets - Local Curre

2015 Return: -14.69%
2016 YTD Return: 8.08%
Differential in 2015 & 2016 YTD Returns (% Points): 22.77
Net Assets (millions): $8,098
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8. Small Blend

2015 Return: -5.38%
2016 YTD Return: 19.85%
Differential in 2015 & 2016 YTD Returns (% Points): 25.24
Net Assets (millions): $215,295
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7. Small Value

2015 Return: -6.63%
2016 YTD Return: 24.57%
Differential in 2015 & 2016 YTD Returns (% Points): 31.20
Net Assets (millions): $106,667
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6. Commodities Broad Basket

2015 Return: -23.44%
2016 YTD Return: 12.54%
Differential in 2015 & 2016 YTD Returns (% Points): 35.98
Net Assets (millions): $25,818
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5. Natural Resources

2015 Return: -22.12%
2016 YTD Return: 28.35%
Differential in 2015 & 2016 YTD Returns (% Points): 50.47
Net Assets (millions): $21,879
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4. Latin America Stock

2015 Return: -30.48%
2016 YTD Return: 21.68%
Differential in 2015 & 2016 YTD Returns (% Points): 52.17
Net Assets (millions): $1,906
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3. Energy Limited Partnership

2015 Return: -33.48%
2016 YTD Return: 21.52%
Differential in 2015 & 2016 YTD Returns (% Points): 55
Net Assets (millions): $25,578
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2. Equity Energy

2015 Return: -27.13
2016 YTD Return: 29.61%
Differential in 2015 & 2016 YTD Returns (% Points): 56.73
Net Assets (millions): $21,634
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1. Equity Precious Metals

2015 Return: -23.21%
2016 YTD Return: 54.75%
Differential in 2015 & 2016 YTD Returns (% Points): 77.95
Net Assets (millions): $13,118
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