As we look back at yet another pandemic year and yet another tough 12 months for many reasons, overall, the markets have learned to deal with the pandemic and the headline news stories about new variants and new covid restrictions. This is proven by the fact that the major indexes all performed very well in terms of a historical perspective. The S&P 500 (SP500) ended the year up 26.89%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) rose 18.73%, and the NASDAQ (COMP) increased by 21.39% in 2021.
Two of the three, the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones, outperformed their 2020 results in 2021, while the NASDAQ did well in 2021, but about half as well as it did in 2020. With those sorts of results, people may wonder how anyone could have lost money over the past 12 months, but depending on where and how you invested, you may be one of the unfortunate individuals who find yourself in that situation.
The start of a new year is a good time to review your investing thesis and try to pinpoint why some investments didn’t turn out the way you imagined they would. With that thinking in mind, let’s take a look at the top five worst performing ETFs of 2021 in a number of different categories that the average investor could have chosen from in 2021 to see if you owned any of them or if there was some sort of trend that we can learn from.
The following table shows the performance of the worst five ETFs in 2021, as well as their performance over the last month, the last three months, the last five and ten years. (All figures quoted are based on the December 31st, 2021 closing price. Five- and ten-year periods are annualized when available.)
The following table shows the performance of the worst five Non-Leveraged ETFs in 2021, 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 worst five Equity Non-Leveraged ETFs in 2021, 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 worst five US Equity Non-Leveraged ETFs in 2021, 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 worst five Global Ex-US Equity Non-Leveraged ETFs in 2021, 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 worst five Developed Markets Equity Non-Leveraged ETFs in 2021, 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 worst five Emerging Markets Equity Non-Leveraged ETFs in 2021, 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 worst five European Equity Non-Leveraged ETFs in 2021, 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 worst five Asian-Pacific Equity Non-Leveraged ETFs in 2021, 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 worst five Latin American Equity Non-Leveraged ETFs in 2021, 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 worst five Middle-Eastern & African Equity Non-Leveraged ETFs in 2021, 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 worst five Commodity Non-Leveraged ETFs in 2021, 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 2021, 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 2021, 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 the December 31st, 2021 closing price. Five and ten-year periods are annualized when available.)
Hopefully, you didn’t own any of the ETFs mentioned above; I was lucky enough to have avoided them. But if you did, focus on what and where you went wrong with your selection process and how you can improve your investment picking in the future.
Those who forget the past are doomed to repeat it. Best of luck in 2022!
Matt Thalman
INO.com Contributor - ETFs
Follow me on Twitter @mthalman5513
Disclosure: This contributor did not hold a position in any investment mentioned above at the time this blog post was published. 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.
