Over the last five and a half months the S&P/ASX 200 index has been in fine form and has generated a return of 16% for investors excluding dividends.
The tech sector and iron ore producers have played a key role in this strong gain, as have Australia's big four banks.
During this time the four banking giants have shaken off the housing market downturn and the Royal Commission to charge notably higher.
This has been driven partly by a better than feared Royal Commission final report, the surprise election result, and signs that the housing market could be close to bottoming.
Here's how they have performed since the turn of the year, excluding the generous dividends they have paid to shareholders:
The Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ASX: ANZ) share price is up 15.2% since the start of the year. Over the period the bank has continued to offload non-core assets and return funds to shareholders via its $3 billion share buyback.
The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) share price has risen approximately 10% since the start of the year. Whilst this makes Australia's largest bank the laggard in the group, this is largely down to the fact that CBA's shares held up best during 2018's banking selloff. Last week CBA's shares hit a 52-week high of $81.25.
The National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX: NAB) share price has climbed 13.5% higher so far in 2019. It certainly has been a turbulent period for the bank, with both its CEO and chairman resigning after being heavily criticised in the Royal Commission final report.
The Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC) share price has also risen strongly this year, recording a gain of 11.1% since the turn of the year. One major development this year was the announcement of its Wealth strategy reset. This included exiting the provision of personal financial advice and entering into a sale agreement with Viridian which will see many BT Financial Advice ongoing advice customers transfer to the advisory firm.
The big question now is whether it is too late to buy the banks? I don't believe it is and still see value in all four, especially given the low interest rate environment.
