2018 was a wild year as we saw the markets rise to new all-time highs in the first half of the year only to crash during the last quarter of the year causing the major indexes to all close in the red for the year, for the first time in over a decade. But despite the S&P 500 (SPX) ending the year down 6.24%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) losing 5.63%, and the NASDAQ (COMP) dropping 3.88% in 2018, more than a handful of Exchange Traded Funds not only performed better than the major averages, but a lot of them put up some very impressive returns.
Let’s take a look at the top five best performing ETFs of 2018 in some different categories the average investor has to choose from.
The following table shows the performance of the top five best performing ETFs in 2018, as well as their performance over the last month, the last three months, the last five and ten years.
The following table shows the performance of the top five Non-Leveraged ETFs in 2018, as well as their performance over the last month, the last three months, the last five and ten years.
The following table shows the performance of the top five Equity Non-Leveraged ETFs in 2018, as well as their performance over the last month, the last three months, the last five and ten years.
The following table shows the performance of the top five US Equity Non-Leveraged ETFs in 2018, as well as their performance over the last month, the last three months, the last five and ten years.
The following table shows the performance of the top five Global Ex-US Equity Non-Leveraged ETFs in 2018, as well as their performance over the last month, the last three months, the last five and ten years.
The following table shows the performance of the top five Developed Markets Equity Non-Leveraged ETFs in 2018, as well as their performance over the last month, the last three months, the last five and ten years.
The following table shows the performance of the top five Emerging Markets Equity Non-Leveraged ETFs in 2018, as well as their performance over the last month, the last three months, the last five and ten years.
The following table shows the performance of the top five European Equity Non-Leveraged ETFs in 2018, as well as their performance over the last month, the last three months, the last five and ten years.
The following table shows the performance of the top five Asian-Pacific Equity Non-Leveraged ETFs in 2018, as well as their performance over the last month, the last three months, the last five and ten years.
The following table shows the performance of the top five Latin American Equity Non-Leveraged ETFs in 2018, as well as their performance over the last month, the last three months, the last five and ten years.
The following table shows the performance of the top five Middle-Eastern and African Equity Non-Leveraged ETFs in 2018, as well as their performance over the last month, the last three months, the last five and ten years.
The following table shows the performance of the top five Commodity Non-Leveraged ETFs in 2018, as well as their performance over the last month, the last three months, the last five and ten years.
The following table shows the performance of the top five Currency Non-Leveraged ETFs in 2018, as well as their performance over the last month, the last three months, the last five and ten years.
The following table shows the performance of the top five Fixed Income Non-Leveraged ETFs in 2018, as well as their performance over the last month, the last three months, the last five and ten years.
(All figures quoted above are based on December 31st, 2018 closing price.)
After looking at all the different tables above and comparing the performance of each investment option, it is interesting to see how well commodities performed despite oil prices falling. Or how emerging markets, European, the Asian-Pacific, or just the Global-EX US options all performed terribly. Lastly, the performance from the top US Equity ETFs highlights that despite the major US indexes declining, investors don’t have to experience the same fate.
Best of luck to all investors in 2019!
Matt Thalman
INO.com Contributor - ETFs
Follow me on Twitter @mthalman5513
Disclosure: This contributor did not hold a position in any investment mentioned above. This article is the opinion of the contributor themselves. The above is a matter of opinion provided for general information purposes only and is not intended as investment advice. This contributor is not receiving compensation (other than from INO.com) for their opinion.
Remarkably useful summary.
Hey John,
I am glad you appreciated it. A piece with the same type of information but for the worst performing ETF's of 2018 should be published soon.