At the end of the first quarter, what have been the primary trends in the Equity ETF markets so far this year?
On the positive side, it should come as no surprise that energy ETFs have been a great thing to hold in your portfolio, rising an average of 36% and seeing nearly $5.5 billion of inflows. Pushed up by the twin forces of inflation and war, the TOP 20 performing US-listed ETFs all focus on the energy sector. Here are the top 5:
- United States Natural Gas Fund (UNG), +59% YTD, -$192 million YTD flows
- VanEck Vectors Oil Services ETF (OIH), +53% YTD, +$577 million of flows
- SPDR S&P Oil & Gas Equipment and Services ETF (XES), +52%, +$129 million of flows
- iShares US Oil & Gas Equipment & Services ETF (IEZ), +49%, +$115 million flows
- Invesco Dynamic Energy Exploration and Production ETF (PXE), +45%, $53 million flows
Excluding ETFs that track Russian equities (which are currently down over 97% YTD, the biggest losers have been concentrated in the areas of disruption, technology, and thematic investing. Some of the forward-looking concepts have been dragged back to earth by rising interest rates, increased commodity prices, regulatory changes, and the overall collapse of the technology sector in 2022 – down over 8% YTD. Here are the biggest losers:
- SmartETFs Advertising & Marketing Technology ETF (MRAD) -26%, -$18 of flows*
- Simplify Volt Fintech Disruption ETF (VFIN), -26%, -$15 of flows*
- The De-SPAC ETF (DSPC), -27%, -$770,000 of flows*
- Virtus Life science Biotech Clinical Trials ETF (BBC), -27%, -$1.4 million flows
- Defiance NextGen Altered Experience ETF (PSY), -28%, +$2.3 million flows
- ARK Innovation ETF (ARKK), -29%, +$675 million flows
- Simplify Pop Culture Disruption ETF (VPOP), -30%, -$31 in flows*
- Advisor Shares Psychedelics ETF (PSIL), -31%, +$3 million of flows
*ETFs marked with an asterisk have under $2million of assets and typically low trading activity, so this poor performance puts their survival at risk.
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