The “sell in May and go away” theory was dispelled this year as the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average closed the month at record highs with May gains of 2.1% and 1.05%, respectively.
While May was a solid month for U.S. stocks, it was a banner month for a plethora of emerging markets exchange traded funds, including many of the niche varietal. In fact, 18 of May’s top 20 non-leveraged ETFs were emerging markets funds.
A deeper look at that group reveals the May dominance of India and Russia ETFs as 14 single-country funds tracking those nations are among May’s top 20 ETFs. [After Modi Win, Will Investors Finally Return to India ETFs?]
On that note, approaching India and Russia ETFs cautiously in the near-term appears advisable as both groups of ETFs sold-off in the last week of May, though the profit-taking in India funds was far more dramatic.
Given the heavy presence of India and Russia ETFs on this list, some entries will be condensed to include multiple ETFs. All return data is courtesy of XTF. Let’s get started with the…