The exchange traded fund industry has over 1,300 products with over $1 trillion in assets. It is no wonder that the average long-term investor may have a hard time picking out which ETFs would suit his or her investment portfolio, but more services are popping up to make the task easier.
U.S. News recently provided its top ranking ETF investments for various asset classes based costs and the structure of the ETFs. The U.S. News Best Fit ETF ranking tries to help long-term investors pick the right ETFs for long-term asset allocation investment plans.
According to its ranking methodology, each fund was scored within its respective category on expense ratio weighted at 30%, tracking error at 30%, bid/ask ratio at 20% and diversification at 20%.
Small-Caps
- Vanguard Small Cap Value ETF (NYSEArca: VBR)
- Vanguard Small Cap ETF (NYSEArca: VB)
- Schwab U.S. Small-Cap ETF (NYSEArca: SCHA)
Large-Caps
- iShares Russell Top 200 Index (NYSEArca: IWL)
- Vanguard Large Cap ETF (NYSEArca: VV)
- Vanguard Mega Cap 300 Index ETF (NYSEArca: MGC)
Asia
- SPDR S&P China (NYSEArca: GXC)
- iShares MSCI Taiwan Index (NYSEArca: EWT)
- iShares MSCI Hong Kong Index (NYSEArca: EWH)
Emerging Markets
- Schwab Emerging Markets Equity ETF (NYSEArca: SCHE)
- BLDRS Emerging Markets 50 ADR Index (NYSEArca: ADRE)
- iShares MSCI South Africa Index (NYSEArca: EZA)
Real Estate
- SPDR Dow Jones REIT (NYSEArca: RWR)
- Vanguard REIT Index ETF (NYSEArca: VNQ)
- SPDR Dow Jones Global Real Estate (NYSEArca: RWO)
Corporate Debt
- Guggenheim BulletShares 2013 Corp Bond (NYSEArca: BSCD)
- iShares Barclays Credit Bond (NYSEArca: CFT)
- SPDR Barclays Cap Interm Term Corp Bnd (NYSEArca: ITR)
Bonds
- Vanguard Short-Term Bond ETF (NYSEArca: BSV)
Municipal Bonds
- iShares S&P S/T Natnl AMT-Free Muni Bd (NYSEArca: SUB)
- iShares S&P National AMT-Free Muni Bd (NYSEArca: MUB)
- iShares S&P CA AMT-Free Municipal Bd (NYSEArca: CMF)
Gold
Precious Metals
- iShares Silver Trust (NYSEArca: SLV)
Commodities
- GreenHaven Continuous Commodity Index (NYSEArca: GCC)
- iShares S&P GSCI Commodity-Indexed Trust (NYSEArca: GSG)
- ALPS Alerian MLP ETF (NYSEArca: AMLP)
Natural Resources
- Vanguard Energy ETF (NYSEArca: VDE)
- iShares S&P North Amer Natural Resources (NYSEArca: IGE)
- iShares Dow Jones US Oil & Gas Ex Index (NYSEArca: IEO)
For more information on ETFs, visit our ETF 101 category.
Max Chen contributed to this article.
The opinions and forecasts expressed herein are solely those of Tom Lydon, and may not actually come to pass. Mr. Lydon serves as an independent trustee of certain mutual funds and ETFs that are managed by Guggenheim Investments; however, any opinions or forecasts expressed herein are solely those of Mr. Lydon and not those of Guggenheim Funds, Guggenheim Investments, Guggenheim Specialized Products, LLC or any of their affiliates. Information on this site should not be used or construed as an offer to sell, a solicitation of an offer to buy, or a recommendation for any product.