The Best ETF Tickers of All Time

The ETF Ticker of the Year is usually the most amusing of etf.com’s annual awards. While the rest of the awards are serious business, the Ticker of the Year rewards creativity, marketability, and even humor. 

This year, the five finalists for the award are: 

• Defiance Israel Bond ETF (CHAI) 
• MUSQ Global Music Industry ETF (MUSQ) 
• Strive Enhanced Income Short Maturity ETF (BUXX) 
• Themes Cybersecurity ETF (SPAM) 
• Touchstone Climate Transition ETF (HEAT) 

etf.com will announce the 2023 winner on April 17 at New York’s Tribeca Rooftop during its annual awards ceremony.  

Meanwhile, here are past winners of the award.  

2022—WEED 

Slang terms for marijuana are numerous, so it’s been easy for fund managers to invent catchy tickers for marijuana-focused ETFs.  

TOKE, POTX, and YOLO are some good ones, but none was better than Roundhill Cannabis ETF (WEED). No wonder the ETF snagged the ETF ticker of the year award last year.  

2020—(TGIF) 

The SoFi Weekly Income ETF (TGIF) was a cool concept: The ETF paid investors every week rather than every month like most other income-focused funds. 

The ticker fit the fund perfectly, too—TGIF (thank God it’s Friday).  

Alas, a great ticker and a cool concept don’t necessarily equal success. TGIF shuttered earlier this year amid a lack of interest in the fund.  

2019—NERD 

You’d been surprised how many gaming-focused ETFs there are, and almost all of them have solid tickers. The Roundhill Video Games ETF (NERD), winner of the 2019 ticker award, is a good one (though some gamers might take offense to it), but so too are tickers for other gaming ETFs, like ESPO, HERO, BETZ, BJK, and GAMR. 

NERD is among the smallest ETFs in the space, with $20 million in AUM. It lags the others, which manage between $40 million to $260 million.  

2018—PAWZ

The ProShares Pet Care (PAWZ) is a fantastic ticker. But what’s most remarkable is how a fund focused on such a narrow industry (relative to most other ETFs) managed to resonate so much with investors. 

The fund currently has $70 million in AUM, but it managed as much as $400 million in 2021. 

2017—MAGA 

Hate it or love it, everyone knows what MAGA is. Donald Trump’s campaign slogan is marketing genius, a short, catchy acronym that immediately conveys a certain ideology.  

The power of MAGA extends to the ETF with that ticker, the Point Bridge America First ETF.  

MAGA has everything you could ask for in a ticker. It’s easy to remember, and you instantly know what kind of investment it represents. 

2016—WSKY 

The ETFMG Whiskey & Spirits ETF (WSKY) is a popular drink, but it wasn’t a popular fund. Winner of the Ticker of the Year award for 2016, the fund shut down just a year and a half after launching. 

2015—CRAK 

The VanEck Oil Refiners ETF (CRAK) is one of the all-time great tickers. Crack spreads measure refining margins—how much oil refiners make from converting crude oil into useable petroleum products like gasoline and diesel.  

Not everyone will make that connection immediately, but that’s what makes the ticker even better. It gets people intrigued. 

In a year in which finalists included BITE (the Restaurant ETF) and the U.S. Global Jets ETF (JETS), CRAK was up against stiff competition. But I think the right ETF came away with the win.