The stock market may have hit a snag in recent weeks, but all told the S&P 500 index of large-cap U.S. companies remains up about 8.8% in 2024. That's pretty good for just four months and some change – but more importantly, that's just the average performance of the 500 largest companies on Wall Street.
There's greater risk in taking a more tactical approach, but there can also be greater reward if you focus on the best corners of the stock market and skip over the laggards. That's what the 10 best-performing ETFs of 2024 do in various ways.
To be clear, this isn't an absolute list. Leveraged ETFs that use complex instruments to deliver two to three times their underlying assets are among the riskiest and most volatile offerings out there, so they've been excluded because their rapid growth in recent months may be replaced by equally rapid declines in short order.
The smallest and most illiquid funds are also excluded, with each of the 10 funds below having a minimum of $150 million in assets under management. In the case of "lookalike" funds with similar approaches – and similar returns – the largest fund as measured by assets is listed, rather than fill up this list with 10 funds that all are plays on the same basic theme.
The result is this curated list of the 10 best-performing ETFs as of May 8:
| ETF | Expense Ratio | Assets Under Management | Year-to-date Performance |
| Global X MSCI Argentina ETF (ticker: ARGT) | 0.59% | $220 million | 22.9% |
| WisdomTree Japan Hedged Equity Fund (DXJ) | 0.48% | $4.8 billion | 23.7% |
| VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH) | 0.35% | $17.9 billion | 25.5% |
| Simplify Interest Rate Hedge ETF (PFIX) | 0.50% | $163 million | 26.3% |
| Global X Copper Miners ETF (COPX) | 0.65% | $2.3 billion | 27.1% |
| Invesco S&P MidCap Momentum ETF (XMMO) | 0.34% | $2.1 billion | 27.6% |
| iShares MSCI Turkey ETF (TUR) | 0.59% | $240 million | 28.3% |
| AdvisorShares Pure US Cannabis ETF (MSOS) | 0.83% | $1.3 billion | 32.2% |
| Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) | 1.50% | $17.6 billion | 57.9% |
Global X MSCI Argentina ETF (ARGT)
- Expense ratio: 0.59%, or $59 annually on $10,000 invested
- Assets under management: $220 million
- YTD performance: 22.9%
Among emerging markets, Argentina doesn't exactly have a very good reputation. The country has defaulted on its national debt more than once – including a massive $130 billion default two decades ago that ranks as the second-worst such incident in world history (Greece's was slightly larger in 2012 when it defaulted.) Stocks here can be notoriously volatile thanks to a lack of confidence in the government and related uncertainty around inflation and general growth concerns.
On Wall Street, however, there's optimism for the first time in a while as new President Javier Milei's plans to stabilize the national currency and embark on long-term economic planning has sparked a big rally. ARGT is the primary ETF to play the nation, with just 25 local holdings including South American e-commerce player MercadoLibre Inc. (MELI) and leading bank Grupo Financiero Galicia (GGAL), among others. There is definitely risk here, but if you want to play a potential big-time turnaround in this emerging market, ARGT is your ticket to do so.
WisdomTree Japan Hedged Equity Fund (DXJ)
- Expense ratio: 0.48%
- Assets under management: $4.8 billion
- YTD performance: 23.7%
Japan's economy has been on an uptrend lately thanks to data that shows wages and spending trends on the rise. Sure, gross domestic product grew by a mere 0.4% in the fourth quarter of 2023 – but historically Japan has been a very sluggish and conservative economy, in contrast to dynamic emerging markets elsewhere in Asia. In fact, previous predictions were for a 0.4% decline, so this reading was quite well-received by investors. That has led the popular Nikkei 225 index of top Japanese stocks to tack on about 14% this year – and this currency-hedged ETF that invests in those companies, along with currency derivatives to mitigate a weak yen, has lept even more since the start of the year. With that foreign exchange edge and more than 400 components, including automotive leader Toyota Motor Corp. (TM) and Asian banking powerhouse Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. (MUFG), this Japan ETF is one of 2024's top performers.
VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH)
- Expense ratio: 0.35%
- Assets under management: $17.9 billion
- YTD performance: 25.5%
Tech stocks are normally the growth favorite on Wall Street, but semiconductor stocks in particular have been all the rage over the last year or so – led by chipmaker Nvidia Corp. (NVDA), which has become just about everyone's momentum darling after shares have more than tripled over the last 12 months. Admittedly, SMH owes a lot of its outperformance to this single stock that represents about 20% of the ETF's portfolio at present, but other leaders including Broadcom Inc. (AVG) and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd. (TSM) also are driving the success of this top-performing ETF year to date.
Investors should be warned that semiconductor stocks can be notoriously volatile thanks to their cyclical nature. Chips are now essential to the operation of everything, from kitchen appliances to TVs to automobiles, and any broad downtrend in the economy naturally dings demand. But based on recent uptrends, the sector and SMH are among the leaders on Wall Street so far in 2024.
Simplify Interest Rate Hedge ETF (PFIX)
- Expense ratio: 0.50%
- Assets under management: $163 million
- YTD performance: 26.3%
This smaller fund from Simplify barely gets over the asset threshold to make this list, but that's because it is a fund that is highly useful at some points in time but dead money in others. Though markets widely expected the Federal Reserve to start cutting rates in the first half of 2024, a number of hot inflation readings put a pause on that, and long-term rates have actually advanced this year. That means the interest rate derivatives that make up this fund's portfolio – designed precisely to hedge against rising long-term rates – have started to tick up in value this year, making it one of the top performing ETFs of 2024.
Global X Copper Miners ETF (COPX)
- Expense ratio: 0.65%
- Assets under management: $2.3 billion
- YTD performance: 27.1%
Recent forecasts from S&P Global predict copper consumption worldwide could double by 2035 thanks to booming demand, particularly from fast-growing Asian markets that need this multipurpose metal for construction, electronics and other essential economic needs. As a result of this long-term uptrend in demand, copper prices have crossed the all-important milestone of $10,000 per metric ton – and sparked a rally across the industry as a result. Comprising about 40 firms like Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. (OTC: IVPAF) and Lundin Mining Corp. (LUNMF) that are primarily focused on copper extraction, this top ETF of 2024 is a great way to play this uptrend in the sector if you don't want to deal with trading copper futures directly.
Invesco S&P MidCap Momentum ETF (XMMO)
- Expense ratio: 0.34%
- Assets under management: $2.1 billion
- YTD performance: 27.6%
"Mighty midcaps" are a fashionable investment in times of growth, as they are typically faster to take advantage of favorable economic trends thanks to their smaller size – but not so tiny that they are undercapitalized or at risk of big trouble after just a few small setbacks. Thanks to the strong start to the year, XMMO has been able to cash in as one of the top ETFs of 2024 thanks to a focus on the fastest-moving companies in this asset class. With an average market cap of just under $11 billion and a methodology that picks the top 80 or so names in the mid-cap universe, it has a share in high fliers including independent utility Vistra Corp. (VST) and HVAC company Lennox International Inc. (LII), among others.
iShares MSCI Turkey ETF (TUR)
- Expense ratio: 0.59%
- Assets under management: $240 million
- YTD performance: 28.3%
There's definitely elevated risk in this ETF, as it is a very focused play on the emerging market of Turkey that has had plenty of struggles recently – including a jaw-dropping inflation rate that is near to 70% as of data that just dropped at the beginning of May. Turkey's central bank has been taking aggressive action, and despite some of the turmoil there's a durable story of growth as the nation has steadily transformed from a farm-focused economy to an industrialized powerhouse over the last few decades. In fact, its GDP just topped $1 trillion for the first time last year. This ETF allows exposure to that long-term uptrend via local companies that you would have difficulty buying via your standard investment platform.
AdvisorShares Pure US Cannabis ETF (MSOS)
- Expense ratio: 0.83%
- Assets under management: $1.3 billion
- YTD performance: 32.2%
Perhaps you've seen recent rumblings out of the Biden administration to further roll back criminalization of marijuana and considered buying in to the growing for-profit cannabis industry as a result. Well, MSOS is your ticket to do just that as the largest fund by assets targeting this space. Populated with 60 leading cannabis stocks, this billion-dollar ETF is one of the most popular ways to play the marijuana legalization megatrend lifting companies in this specialized industry.
Top holdings at present include Curaleaf Holdings Inc. (OTC: CURLF) and Verano Holdings Corp. (OTC: VRNOF), among others, covering both recreational and medical marijuana opportunities. A lot of these start-ups are reliant on the regulatory environment, but the winds seem to be blowing in favor of marijuana – and have made this and other cannabis ETFs among 2024's top performers.
Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC)
- Expense ratio: 1.50%
- Assets under management: $17.6 billion
- YTD performance: 57.9%
Speaking of the best ETFs to buy now, while the ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF (BITO) was recently profiled as one of the best Bitcoin ETFs to buy now thanks to its lower cost structure and a recent outflow of assets from GBTC, this Grayscale fund has performed better year to date thanks to a quirk of its structure. In fact, its 2024 return is better than the actual returns of about 44% for the Bitcoin cryptocurrency itself. Part of that quirk was a deep discount to expenses until it reached a trigger level based on assets, however, and now that the fund is a bit more pricey, that cost advantage may not be there in the second half of the year.
Still, if you're looking for easy exposure to Bitcoin, then there's a lot to like about this Grayscale ETF as the best-performing ETF year to date in 2024.
