ETF Money Goes Global

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), 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) (up 25.16% year to date), iShares MSCI Germany Index (EWG Quote) (up 16.73%), iShares MSCI Netherlands Index (EWN Quote) (up 16.65%), iShares MSCI Australia Fund (EWA Quote) (up 15.28%) and the iShares MSCI Sweden Index (EWD Quote) (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) fund and the WisdomTree International Basic Materials (DBN Quote), 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