A seemingly unstoppable flood of money has Vanguard Group Inc. on the brink of claiming a crown that State Street Corp. has held for decades.

This is a low-cost index fund that invests in a portfolio of real estate investment trusts, or REITs. REITs are income-focused stocks, but they also have lots of potential to generate market-beating total returns over time.

The energy sector may not benefit as much from prevailing market themes like artificial intelligence, robotics, or cloud computing, but it does include a variety of quality dividend stocks with inexpensive valuations.