ETF Money Goes Global
05/09/07 - 12:05 PM EDT
Richard Widows
Exchange-traded fund investors have been sending their money on a world tour this year.
During the first third of this year, foreign ETFs have dominated the list of top-returning funds, with investments in Europe and the Asia Pacific region being the major contributors. Metals and mining funds also were among the top-performing ETFs. Leading the pack is Van Eck Global's Market Vectors Steel ETF (SLX Quote - Cramer on SLX - Stock Picks), which rewarded its investors with an impressive 27.68% gain so far this year. The ETF is both a metals and international play, as its top three holdings are based in the U.K., Brazil and the Netherlands, respectively. The top country-specific ETFs were dominated by the iShares family, which represented the list with its iShares MSCI Malaysia (EWM Quote - Cramer on EWM - Stock Picks) (up 25.16% year to date), iShares MSCI Germany Index (EWG Quote - Cramer on EWG - Stock Picks) (up 16.73%), iShares MSCI Netherlands Index (EWN Quote - Cramer on EWN - Stock Picks) (up 16.65%), iShares MSCI Australia Fund (EWA Quote - Cramer on EWA - Stock Picks) (up 15.28%) and the iShares MSCI Sweden Index (EWD Quote - Cramer on EWD - Stock Picks) (up 14.87%). The only non-iShares country-specific ETF on the list was the WisdomTree Pac Ex Japan HY Eq fund, which has grown 15.39% so far this year. These ETFs were kept company by the WisdomTree International Industrial (DDI Quote - Cramer on DDI - Stock Picks) fund and the WisdomTree International Basic Materials (DBN Quote - Cramer on DBN - Stock Picks), both of which focus more than two-thirds of their portfolios on Western European countries. Below is a table of the ETF leaders and laggards for the year to date. Leveraged and "inverse" ETFs are excluded from the leaders and laggards arrays in the accompanying table.| ETF Leaders and Laggards (Year to Date) | |||||
| Name | Ticker | Investment Objective | YTD Total Return (%) | 12-Month Total Return (%) | TheStreet.com Ratings Grade* |
| Leaders | |||||
| Market Vectors Steel Index ETF | SLX | Equity Income | 27.68 | N/A | U |
| SPDR S&P Metals & Mining ETF | XME | Equity Income | 26.81 | N/A | U |
| iShares MSCI Malaysia | EWM | Non-US Equity | 25.16 | 49.16 | A+ |
| WisdomTree International Industrial | DDI | Non-US Equity | 17.30 | N/A | U |
| iShares MSCI Germany | EWG | Non-US Equity | 16.73 | 32.37 | A+ |
| iShares MSCI Netherlands | EWN | Non-US Equity | 16.65 | 32.63 | A |
| WisdomTree Intl Basic Materials | DBN | Non-US Equity | 16.54 | N/A | U |
| WisdomTree Pac Ex Japan HY Eq | DNH | Non-US Equity | 15.39 | N/A | U |
| iShares MSCI Australia | EWA | Non-US Equity | 15.28 | 29.25 | A+ |
| iShares MSCI Sweden | EWD | Non-US Equity | 14.87 | 37.52 | A |
| Laggards | |||||
| iShares DJ US Home Cons Idx | ITB | Equity Income | -14.51 | N/A | U |
| SPDR S&P Homebuilders ETF | XHB | Equity Income | -8.39 | -18.77 | U |
| HOLDRS Internet Infrastructure | IIH | Growth -- Domestic | -6.82 | 1.95 | D |
| HOLDRS B2B Internet | BHH | Growth -- Domestic | -6.02 | -28.16 | E- |
| iShares FTSE/Xinhua China 25 | FXI | Non-US Equity | -5.53 | 35.52 | A+ |
| KBW Regional Banking ETF | KRE | Financial Services | -5.40 | N/A | U |
| PowerShares Dynamic Banking Portf | PJB | Equity Income | -5.28 | N/A | U |
| iShares MSCI Taiwan | EWT | Non-US Equity | -4.82 | 1.86 | D |
| PowerShares High Yld Eq Div Ach | PEY | Equity Income | -2.50 | 9.19 | B- |
| iShares DJ US Regional Banks | IAT | Financial Services | -2.34 | N/A | U |
| * U is Unrated Source: TheStreet.com Ratings -- Performance data of 04/30/2007 | |||||
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