Yesterday, Claymore announced one-year performance information for its first five exchange traded funds (ETFs) that launched on the American Stock Exchange on Sept. 21, 2006. In the year since the introduction of its first ETFs, Claymore’s offerings
have grown to 33 ETFs. Three of these five Claymore ETFs outperformed
their benchmark in their first full year of performance, and all five
have posted a positive performance. The five "birthday" Claymore ETFs include:

• Claymore/BNY BRIC (EEB) – Of the five ETFs, this one has had the strongest performance on both an absolute and relative basis. EEB returned 93.8% and outperformed the 58.0% return by its
  benchmark, the MSCI Emerging Markets Index, by 35.9 percentage points. Currently, it’s up 65.8% year-to-date.
• Claymore/Zacks Sector Rotation (XRO) – XRO also achieved strong absolute and relative performance. It returned 23.2% and outperformed the 16.4% return by its S&P 500 benchmark by 6.8 percentage points. Currently, it’s up 15.8% year-to-date.
• Claymore/Sabrient Insider (NFO) – Although this ETF hasn’t been on the radar much lately, it’s still had a strong performance. NFO tracks the Sabrient Insider Sentiment Index, which invests in companies based on corporate insiders buying their own stock. It returned 21.6% and outperformed the 16.4% performance of its S&P 500 benchmark by 5.2 percentage points. Currently, it’s up 15.4% year-to-date.
• Claymore/Zacks Yield Hog (CVY) – CVY is another ETF that hasn’t been in the news much lately. It tracks the Zacks Yield Hog Index that invests in most income-generating securities and uses a sampling approach to pick the companies it invests in from the index. CVY returned 8.7%, trailing the 16.4% broad benchmark return of the
  S&P 500 and the 8.8% return of the more narrow Dow Jones Dividend
  Select Index. Currently, it’s up 1.7% year-to-date.
• Claymore/Sabrient Stealth (STH) – STH is another ETF that has been shy lately. It tracks the Sabrient Steath Index that comprises 150 micro- and small-cap stocks and ADRs that have little or no Wall Street coverage. STH returned 7.0% and underperformed the 16.4% broad benchmark return of
  the S&P 500 Index. It also underperformed the 12.4% return of the more narrow Russell
  2000 Index.   

Tags: Sector ETFs