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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