Here’s the S&P500 performance this year.
It was going well, and then boom!
Coronavirus.
Well technically, it wasn’t coronavirus that hurt the stock market — it was how
the world reacted to it, you know, with all the lockdowns and business closures and all
the rest of it.
I’m not saying that’s how we should or shouldn’t have reacted to it, but that’s
what happened.
As an investor, you can’t chose how the world reacts to anything, let alone microorganisms.
In other words, as an investor, you have to accept that there’s a lot of uncertainly
in the world, not just in 2020, but every year.
Anyway, in this video, I’ll be answering the question — Did any ETFs perform well
during this pandemic?
Of course!
It’s just that I didn’t happen to invest in any of them.
Wouldn’t it be great to have a crystal ball?
So let’s go through the top 10 coronavirus-resilient ETFs.
Just as a note, I’ve only chosen ETFs with a market capitalisation of $200 million or
more.
Let’s get started.
10.
VAE.
Vanguard’s FTSE Asia Ex Japan Shares INDEX ETF.
I used to own this, but got out of it last year.
I probably should have kept it.
Woulda, coulda, shoulda!
Despite coronavirus, investing in VAE would have netted you a cool 8.3% one-year return.
And with only a 0.40% management fee, that’s pretty decent.
It’s heavily invested in China with companies like Alibaba and Tencent Holdings.
Who would have thought that the once coronavirus capital of the world would be doing so well?
Live and learn I suppose.
9.
IXJ. iShares Global Healthcare ETF.
Who would have thought that healthcare would have been a good investment during a pandemic?
This ETF had a one-year return of 9.08% and a management fee of 0.46%.
Major holdings include Johnson & Johnson, UnitedHealth Group, and Pfizer.
8.
ETHI.
BetaShares Global Sustainability Leaders ETF.
For anybody who’s interested in ethics and sustainably, I suppose this is an okay option.
It had a one-year return of 13.15% with a fairly high management fee of 0.59%.
Major holdings include Apple, NVIDIA, Mastercard, Tesla, and even Netflix.
Some of you might be questioning the ethics of some of these companies, but in the end,
the providers of the index, Nasdaq, determine who and who isn’t ethical.
In this case, as long as companies are “genuinely fossil fuel free climate leaders”, they
can be included in the index.
You can make your own judgement.
7.
QUAL.
VanEck Vectors MSCI World ex Australia Quality ETF.
According to their website, quality companies are ones which have: “high return on equity;
stable year-on-year earnings growth; and low financial leverage”.
It had a one-year return of 14.56%, which is really really good, and a management fee
of 0.40%.
Companies include all the usual suspects: Apple, Microsoft, Johnson & Johnson, Google,
Nestlé.
6.
GOLD.
ETF Securities Physical Gold.
Obviously as stock markets crashed, many investors poured their money into physical gold which
has always been known to maintain its value over the long run.
GOLD, as in the ETF, had a 16.12% return over the last 12 months, with a management fee
of 0.40%.
Enough said.
5.
QAU.
BetaShares Gold Bullion ETF Currency Hedged.
As with GOLD, QAU is backed by physical gold, but is hedged for currency movements in the
AUD/USD exchange rate.
It had a one-year return of 16.18% with a fairly high management fee of 0.59%.
4.
IAA. iShares Asia 50 ETF.
Another Asian ETF that did really well.
It had a one-year return of 16.54% during coronavirus with an okay management fee of
0.50%.
All the big non-Japanese Asian companies are in there including Tencent, Taiwan Semiconductors,
and Samsung.
3.
GDX.
VanEck Vectors Gold Miners ETF.
Instead of investing in gold, why not invest in gold miners.
It turns out it paid out a lot better.
22.38% annual returns over the last 12 months with a management fee of 0.53%.
Its holdings include Newmont, Barrick Gold, and Newcrest Mining just to name a few.
2.
NDQ.
BetaShares NASDAQ 100 ETF.
This ETF comprises 100 of the largest non-financial companies listed on NASDAQ and includes many
companies that are at the forefront of the new economy.
Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Facebook.
All the usual suspects.
It has been performing really well throughout coronavirus with a one-year return of 31.23%.
It’s management fees seem a bit high at 0.48%, but with those sorts of returns,
who cares, right?
I don’t know if it can keep up these sorts of returns.
Time will tell I suppose.
And the number one coronavirus-resistant ETF over the last 12 months…
ASIA.
BetaShares Asia Technology Tigers ETF.
This ETF has outperformed every other ETF available in Australia.
It had a massive one-year return of 57.81%.
Yeah, it’s got a fairly high management fee of 0.67%, but who cares!
With those sort of returns, we’d all be smiling.
If there’s anything I’ve learnt from creating this list is that during the next once-in-a-lifetime
virus pandemic, I’ll be investing in Asia and Gold.
Thanks for watching.