There are reasons to be cheerful for the finance sector in 2017, according to two investor surveys, as fund managers are piling into bank stocks in expectations of outperformance next year, while big investors' stampede toward passive funds may be less headlong than feared.

The monthly survey from Bank of America Merrill Lynch, published on December 13, found fund managers' allocations to banking stocks jumped to "record highs" in November. BAML canvassed the views of 173 fund managers with $473 billion under management.