In a somewhat surprising turn, biotech and life sciences-focused ETFs were the driving themes in the last week’s top-performing ETFs, with the ALPS Medical Breakthroughs ETF (SBIO) leading the way with a 10% return. The biotech ETF tracks the S-Network Medical Breakthroughs Index for a 50 basis point (bps) fee and is approaching its 10th anniversary of operation next year.
| Ticker | Name | 1 Week Return |
|---|---|---|
| (SBIO) | ALPS Medical Breakthroughs ETF | 10.23% |
| (BBC) | Virtus LifeSci Biotech Clinical Trials ETF | 8.97% |
| (PGM) | iPath Series B Bloomberg Platinum Subindex Total Return ETN | 8.05% |
| (PLTM) | GraniteShares Platinum Trust | 7.71% |
| (PPLT) | abrdn Physical Platinum Shares ETF | 7.66% |
| (PTH) | Invesco DWA Healthcare Momentum ETF | 7.31% |
| (SURI) | Simplify Propel Opportunities ETF | 7.29% |
| (PALL) | abrdn Physical Palladium Shares ETF | 6.49% |
| (CNCR) | Loncar Cancer Immunotherapy ETF | 6.04% |
| (NGE) | Global X MSCI Nigeria ETF | 6.00% |
SBIO invests in U.S.-listed biotech firms with at least one drug currently in Phase II or Phase III FDA clinical trials. That biotech ETF’s performance comes as biotech funds have seen a bump broadly, which showed up elsewhere in the top ten ETFs’ performance, with names like the Virtus LifeSci Biotech Clinical Trials ETF (BBC), the Invesco DWA Healthcare Momentum ETF (PTH), and the Loncar Cancer Immunotherapy ETF (CNCR) also in the top ten with returns of 9%, 7.3%, and 6% respectively.
See more: “Biotech ETFs’ Performance Deserves A Look”
Biotech ETFs may be on the rise at least in part thanks to their exposure to a defensive sector in the form of health care, but still, their performance is notable because many biotech names grow based on expected future revenues – making them growthier than some other sectors out there.
Elsewhere in the ranking, commodities, specifically platinum and palladium, were a focus, with platinum benefitting from its potential as a value play and an alternative to gold and silver, two metals which it is outperforming.
That led to the iPath Series B Bloomberg Platinum Subindex Total Return ETN (PGM) returning 8% and taking the third-placed position in the top ten performing ETFs of the last week, with abrdn also seeing solid performance for the abrdn Physical Platinum Shares ETF (PPLT) and the abrdn Physical Palladium Shares ETF (PALL), returning 7.7% and 6.5% respectively.
Finally, stepping out of both those areas, the Global X MSCI Nigeria ETF (NGE) once again found a place in the top performing ETFs in tenth place, returning 6% over the last week or so.
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