In a lethargic week for U.S. stocks, investors were seen taking a tactical approach to exchange traded funds. At least that is the anecdotal evidence provided by our weekly look at the most searched ETFs.
While broad market ETFs and dividend funds usually occupy several spots on our most searched lists, global and sector funds ruled the roost this week and for a variety of reasons. However, that does not mean some old favorites, namely dividend ETFs, were ignored this week.
Earlier in the week, S&P Capital IQ said as of mid-June, there have been 225 payout increases from S&P 500 members this year and 422 members of the benchmark index that now pay cash dividends, up from 418 at the end of last year. [Delightful Dividend ETFs]
Increased affinity for dividend stocks and ETFs, a prominent theme for a while now, helped the Vanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF (NYSEArca: VIG) retain its oft-held spot among the 10 most searched ETFs. The WisdomTree Total Dividend Fund (NYSEArca: DTD), an ETF that is chock full of the largest U.S. dividend payers also gained entry into the prestigious most searched club. [Big Dividend Payers in This ETF]
Health care ETFs once again spent of time in the limelight this week. The Health Care Select Sector SPDR (NYSEArca: XLV) and the Vanguard Health Care ETF (NYSEArca: VHT) have been displaying improving relative strength against the broader market and a big reason why is resurgent biotech funds. [Health Care ETFs Resume Out-Performance]
Speaking of biotech ETFs, the First Trust NYSE Arca Biotechnology Index Fund (NYSEArca: FBT) and the Market Vectors Biotech ETF (NYSEArca: BBH) were two of the most searched industry ETFs because the pair entered Tuesday with the biggest weights to Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NasdaqGS: VRTX). On that day, Vertex surged more than 40% after the company said two Phase III trials for its cystic fibrosis treatment showed encouraging results. [Vertex Boosts Biotech ETFs]
Getting even more refined and focused with their ETF evaluations, investors spent some time getting to know the KraneShares CSI China Internet Fund (NasdaqGM: KWEB). We suspect the catalyst here is news that Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba announcing it will list its shares on the New York Stock Exchange when it commences its initial public offering later this summer.
With that news, Alibaba’s ETF opportunities are more limited than had the company chosen to list on the Nasdaq, but the exchange news does not matter to KWEB, which still remains positioned to be one of the first ETFs to house shares of Alibaba. [Alibaba Will See Limited ETF Residences]
The iShares MSCI Brazil Capped ETF (NYSEArca: EWZ) and the SPDR Dow Jones International Real Estate ETF (NYSEArca: RWX) were also among the most searched international ETFs while the iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF (NYSEArca: LQD) was the most searched bond fund.
KraneShares CSI China Internet Fund
Tom Lydon’s clients own shares of LQD.