Best Performing ETFs of 1H 2022

These funds bucked the downtrend in the broader financial markets.

[Editor's Note: This article is updated throughout the year with the most current market data. Click here for the previous edition.]

Few ETFs have escaped the vicious selling in financial markets this year. As of the end of June, a mere 7% of U.S.-listed ETFs were in the green on a year-to-date basis.  

One group, however, has managed to buck the trend in a big way—commodity ETFs, and particularly, energy ETFs. In fact, nearly every fund within the top 25 best-performing ETFs of the first half of 2022 fit within those categories.  

That includes the top-performing GS Connect S&P GSCI Enhanced Commodity TR Strategy Index ETN (GSCE), the United States Gasoline Fund (UGA), the United States Brent Oil Fund (BNO) and the United States Natural Gas Fund (UNG), each up more than 50%. 

When excluding inverse and leveraged funds, the threshold to make the top 25 ETFs of the first half of 2022 was 30%, an excellent return in a year in which the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) is down by 20% and the iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF (AGG) is lower by 10.2%. 

Noncommodity Winners  

While commodity-related ETFs have comprised the vast majority of this year’s top-performing ETFs, a few noncommodity funds managed to sneak into the top 25. 

The Simplify Interest Rate Hedge ETF (PFIX) and the FolioBeyond Rising Rates ETF (RISR), both of which benefit from the current interest rate environment, gained 51% and 31%, respectively. 

The KFA Mount Lucas Index Strategy ETF (KMLM), which owns a combination of commodities, currencies and fixed income futures, also made it into the top 25, with a return of 31%. 

For a full list of the best-performing ETFs of the year, see the table below: 

Best Performing ETFs Of The Year (excluding leveraged/inverse)

Data measures total returns for the year-to-date period through June 30.

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