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ETF Winners of the First Year of Trump Era

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Donald Trump is nearing his best political day in life (probably). He became the U.S. President on Nov 8, 2016 and prompted a monster rally in the U.S. stock market. The Dow Jones Industrial Average has been one of the strongest beneficiaries of the Trump rally with (DIA - Free Report) gaining about 28% since his election win (as of Nov 2, 2017).

His promises of tax cuts, deregulations in the financial sector and bringing back foreign jobs to America boosted the markets. The S&P 500-based ETF (SPY - Free Report) added over 20% while the Nasdaq-100-based fund (QQQ - Free Report) surged about 30% during this time frame. Along with Trump bump, a harmonized recovery in the global economy also led such gigantic gains. 

While Trump’s several agenda faced political gridlocks, and have not seen the day of the light yet, markets remain upbeat. All hopes have not died yet. Against this backdrop, we would like to highlight ETFs that have performed superbly since Trump’s win (read: Welcome Trump Era with These ETFs).

 ARK Innovation ETF (ARKK - Free Report) – Up 74.2%

Companies in ARKK include those that “benefit from the development of new products or services, technological improvements and advancements in scientific research” (read: ETFs Riding High On Bitcoin Surge).

 ARK Web x.0 ETF (ARKW - Free Report) – Up 72.9%

The ARK Web x.0 ETF looks to track the long-term growth of capital. It is an actively managed ETF that invests primarily in domestic equity securities and U.S. exchange traded foreign equity securities of companies that are related to the fund’s investment theme of Web x.0 (read: Twitter Surges on Q3 Results: Log in to These ETFs).

PowerShares Dynamic Semiconductors ETF (PSI - Free Report) – Up 61.6%

Semiconductor stocks had every reason to put up a great show. Rise in cloud computing, surge of bitcoins and upbeat forecast for electronics sales in the holiday season — all call for greater demand for semiconductors. Apart from PSI, other semiconductor ETFs like First Trust Nasdaq Semiconductor ETF (FTXL - Free Report) and VanEck Vectors Semiconductor ETF (SMH - Free Report) also surged (read: 5 Biggest ETF Winners of Trump Trade Resurgence).

Global X Lithium & Battery Tech ETF (LIT - Free Report) – Up 60.9%

The fund looks to track the performance of the companies that are active in the exploration and/ or mining of Lithium or production of Lithium batteries. The fund surged as electric-powered vehicles are gaining immense popularity (read: Inside The Surge in Lithium ETF).

Global X Robotics & Artfcl Intllgnc ETF (BOTZ - Free Report) – Up 56.5%

The product invests in companies that are set to benefit from increased utilization of robotics and artificial intelligence (read: Inside the Rise of Thematic ETFs).

iShares U.S. Home Construction ETF (ITB - Free Report) Up 51.7%

The housing sector has been in good shape. The fund looks to track the performance of the home construction sector of the U.S. equity market (read: 5 ETFs to Soar After Solid Q3 GDP Data).

PowerShares DWA Healthcare Momentum ETF (PTH - Free Report) – Up 50.8%

This segment also caught investors’ attention. Healthcare was hit hard before election on the price-gouging issue. The issue was first raised by Hillary Clinton in September 2015 and since then the space has been battered by increasing political and media focus on high prices for some drugs.

However, the stringent approach is easing, allowing investors to enter the space all over again. Also, President Trump’s pledges to reduce FDA regulations, removal of taxes and fees on pharmaceutical and medical-device manufacturers, and successful clinical trials  for new drugs may prove to be a boon to the space (read: 5 Reasons Why Biotech ETFs are Soaring).

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