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People seem to wonder what is the point of these “best of” and “worst of” lists. Besides just being interesting to see what the numbers were, it also shows you what worked in 2009 and what we may want to look at (or avoid in 2010).
You’ll remember that exchange-trade funds are basically mutual funds that can be traded like stocks. Each ETF contains a basket of stocks related to a certain sector or category. They allow you to manage your risk by spreading out exposure among various stocks.
According to Morningstar, below are the 10 best and worst ETFs of 2009:
Inverse and leveraged ETFs have been excluded as they aren’t meant for long-term investing.
10 Best Performing ETFs of 2009
| Name | Ticker | Year-to-Date Return (%) |
| Market Vectors Coal ETF | (KOL) | 129.28 |
| Market Vectors Russia ETF | (RSX) | 129.02 |
| PowerShares Global Coal | (PKOL) | 123.71 |
| iShares MSCI Brazil Index | (EWZ) | 119.86 |
| iPath DJ AIG Lead TR Sub-Idx ETN | (LD) | 119.57 |
| iPath DJ AIG Copper TR Sub-Idx ETN | (JJC) | 118.73 |
| Claymore/AlphaShares China Small Cap | (HAO) | 107.43 |
| iPath MSCI India Index ETN | (INP) | 102.16 |
| SPDR S&P Emerging Latin America | (GML) | 101.45 |
| WisdomTree India Earnings | (EPI) | 98.25 |
10 Worst Performing ETFs of 2009
| Name | Ticker | Year-to-Date Return (%) |
| United States Natural Gas | (UNG) | -61.06 |
| iPath DJ AIG Natural Gas TR Sub-Idx ETF | (GAZ) | -55.72 |
| Vanguard Extended Dur Trs Idx ETF | (EDV) | -33.64 |
| SPDR KBW Regional Banking | (KRE) | -26.01 |
| PowerShares Dynamic Banking | (PJB) | -24.57 |
| iShares Barclays 20+ Year Treas Bond | (TLT) | -18.58 |
| iPath DJ AIG Livestock TR Sub-Idx ETN | (COW) | -18.04 |
| UBS E-TRACS CMCI Livestock TR ETN | (UBC) | -16.32 |
| ELEMENTS MLCX Grains Index TR ETN | (GRU) | -13.24 |
| ELEMENTS S&P CTI ETN | (LSC) | -12.2 |
While these results don’t necessarily predict future carry over, its interesting to note that many of the best performing ETFs had something to do with India, China, and Latin America. On the other hand, many of the worst performing stocks dealt with finance and agriculture.
Should we expect the same in 2010, or will the financials and agricultures see some sort of turnaround in 2010?