Best ETFs for 2024

An exchange-traded fund (ETF) lets you invest in a whole range of different investments in one fell swoop, but how do you choose the best ETFs to buy and hold? It’s an asset class that’s blown up in the last few decades – from just a few hundred options to close to 10,000 ETFs globally today, covering a range of markets and sectors.

Finding the best performing ETFs to invest in now will depend on your long-term strategy and your personal style of investing. To help you decide, here are some of the best performing ETFs for UK investors and the most popular ETFs today.

Best ETFs for 2024

Below are some of the best-performing ETFs available to buy now if you’re a UK investor. It’s always best to invest long-term, and these top ETFs have performed well over specific time periods.

You can look at the top ETFs from this year, over a one year period, or over 5 years – just click the different tabs to switch between timeframes. The percentage performance on display shows the growth of each ETF.

• Best ETFs in 2024
• Top ETFs - 1 year performance
• Top ETFs - 5 year performance
• Best ETFs in 2023

Table: sorted by year-to-date performance based on data from JustETF.com. Updated 10 October 2024

Fund	Icon	YTD performance (to 10 Oct. ’24)	Link to invest
Amundi MSCI Semiconductors ESG Screened UCITS ETF Acc (SEMG)		53.04%	Invest with InvestEngineCapital at risk
VanEck Defense UCITS ETF A (DFNG)		39.71%	Invest with HLCapital at risk
Amundi MSCI China UCITS ETF Acc (LCCN)		36.78%	Invest with FreetradeCapital at risk
iShares China Large Cap UCITS ETF (FXC)		34.34%	Invest with FreetradeCapital at risk
Xtrackers FTSE China 50 UCITS ETF 1C (XX25)		32.29%	Capital at risk

Here are the best ETFs in terms of performance in the past year.

Table: sorted by 1-year performance based on data from JustETF.com. Updated 10 October 2024

Fund	Icon	1-year performance (to 10 Oct. ’24)	YTD performance (to 10 Oct. ’24)	Link to invest
VanEck Crypto and Blockchain Innovators UCITS ETF (DAGB)		96.73%	7.31%	Capital at risk
WisdomTree Blockchain UCITS ETF USD Acc (BKCN)		91.30%	6.15%	Invest with HLCapital at risk
Global X Blockchain UCITS ETF USD Accumulating (BKCG)		80.16%	-7.40	Invest with InvestEngineCapital at risk
Amundi MSCI Semiconductors ESG Screened UCITS ETF Acc (SEMG)		74.83%	53.04%	Invest with InvestEngineCapital at risk
iShares Blockchain Technology UCITS ETF USD (Acc) (BLKC)		68.03%	-4.31%	Invest with HLCapital at risk

Here are the best ETFs in terms of performance in the past 5 years.

Table: sorted by 5-year performance based on data from JustETF.com. Updated 10 October 2024

Fund	Icon	5-year performance (to 10 Oct. ’24)	YTD performance (to 10 Oct. ’24)	Link to invest
Amundi MSCI Semiconductors ESG Screened UCITS ETF Acc (SEMG)		224.43%	53.04%	Invest with InvestEngineCapital at risk
Invesco US Technology Sector UCITS ETF (XLKQ)		218.07%	32.29%	Invest with HLCapital at risk
iShares S&P 500 Information Technology Sector UCITS ETF USD (Acc) (IITU)		207.24%	29.34%	Capital at risk
Xtrackers MSCI USA Information Technology UCITS ETF 1D (XSTC)		193.36%	27.38%	Capital at risk
SPDR S&P US Technology Select Sector UCITS ETF (GXLK)		173.37%	15.08%	Invest with HLCapital at risk

Table: sorted by year-to-date performance based on data from JustETF.com

Fund	Icon	YTD performance (to 5 Dec. ’23)	Link to invest
VanEck Crypto and Blockchain Innovators UCITS ETF (DAGB)		171.97%	Invest with InvestEngineCapital at risk
Global X Blockchain UCITS ETF USD Accumulating (BKCG)		162.80%	Invest with InvestEngineCapital at risk
HANetf Grayscale Future of Finance UCITS ETF (GFOP)		83.29%	Invest with InvestEngineCapital at risk
HANetf ETC Group Digital Assets & Blockchain Equity UCITS ETF (KOIP)		80.00%	Invest with HLCapital at risk
WisdomTree Blockchain UCITS ETF USD Acc (BKCN)		65.64%	Invest with iiCapital at risk

What are the best ETFs to buy in 2024?

It’s important to realise that the current best performing ETFs in 2024, may not necessarily be the best ETFs to buy and hold moving forward.

Past performance doesn’t dictate future results, and the top ETFs right now may not continue to grow at the same rate. Unfortunately, our crystal ball is out of service right now.

If you’re looking for the best ETFs for long-term growth, you may want to look outside of the funds that have already seen explosive growth in recent times.

Finding the best ETF to invest in will also depend on your goals, investing strategy, and risk appetite. Don’t pick an investment just because it’s been a top-performing asset over a short period. It’s always worth thinking about whether an ETF will be a good investment to buy and hold for years to come.

Case study: Jayden learnt about ETFs and after some research, built a profitable ETF portfolio

"I first learned about ETFs through a friend who was showing me his trading account and the multiple ETF’s he had invested in covering things like real estate, currency and precious metals. I was confused at first, but with research and finding a good investment platform, I’ve been able to build up a portfolio of ETF’s which I regularly invest in and have made a nice bit of profit from.

If there’s one thing you’d tell a friend who’s thinking of investing in ETFs, what would it be?

Research, research and more research. It’s important that you understand exactly what you’re investing in and understand the risks – but also the rewards that come with investing. Investing in a fund is definitely easier as there is less risk but you should understand the purpose of the fund and the stocks within it."

Jayden Simmonds

London

How to pick the best ETFs?

Picking the best ETFs is really just finding the one that suits your investing style best. You’ll also want to look at the goals of the ETF and performance. Our lists above can help you narrow down your search for ETFs — here are some of the next steps you could take.

1. Work out what your investment style is. Do you want growth, dividends, or stocks in specific industries? This will help you narrow down your search.
2. Decide if you’re looking for sustainable or ethical ETFs. If so, you could search “ESG“, “ethical” or “sustainable” in your ETF screener to find them.
3. Look at the goals of ETFs. You can find ETF goals in the Key Investor Information Document. We’ve explained some of the information you’ll find on it below.
4. Look at performance. Past performance isn’t an indicator of future results, but it’s always a good idea to check if the ETF is reaching its goals. This is something your chosen trading platform should have, but can also be found on the Key Investor Information Document.
5. Think about risk. Every ETF will come with a varying level of investment risk. So, consider your own risk appetite, perhaps look at the past performance of an ETF and see what the biggest price drop was and think how you’d feel if your investment witnessed a similar drop in value.

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How is the ETF market performing?

It depends on the ETFs and markets you’re looking at. Investing in ETFs continues to grow in popularity. In 2003, there were just 276 ETFs in total, compared to almost 10,000 today.

When it comes to performance of ETFs themselves, it really depends on what assets or markets a particular ETF is tracking. Broad market ETFs covering a popular index like the S&P 500 have fared well in recent years, but this may not continue going forward.

We can see in the best ETFs table above that some of the top performing ETFs to buy recently have been focused around:

• Blockchain and cryptocurrency technology
• Semiconductors
• European stocks
• Turkey

It’s important to remember that the performance of ETFs depends on the underlying investments. A lot of the strong performance in these areas can be due to specific events. For example, a global shortage of semiconductors, a rise in crypto prices or Turkey’s progressing economy. These momentum trends may not continue and could be overtaken by new trends like artificial intelligence (AI), for example.

What are the best ETFs to buy for beginners?

Usually, broad-market ETFs that track major indices like the S&P 500, the Nasdaq, or the FTSE 100. These investments can also often be the best ETFs for young investors or those looking to buy and hold ETFs for long-term growth.

Another great option for beginners is a global ETF that tracks stock markets from developed and emerging markets around the world. These index-tracking ETFs come with a degree of diversity, are simple to understand, and are usually cheap.

It can be best for beginners to avoid highly-specific ETFs that focus on complex themes or sectors (for example, junior miners, robotics, or biotech). These ETFs can involve more risk and are harder to grasp, but the flipside is that they can sometimes generate the best returns.

Our expert says: What is an inverse ETF?

"This type of ETF works a little differently. Rather than appreciating when the underlying assets grow, an inverse ETF goes up in value when a market or assets decline.

So, buying a FTSE 100 inverse ETF means that if the FTSE 100 index was to lose value, your investment would make money. But, if the FTSE 100 index went up, your ETF investment would lose money.

These ETFs are best left to experienced investors looking for short-term market declines. Also, they often involve leverage, which means borrowing money to maximise returns, or losses."

George Sweeney, DipFA

Deputy editor

Bottom Line

As with all investments, the best for one person might not be the best for everyone. Take a look at our guide to choosing the best ETF above to help you find one that suits your investment style.

There are plenty of options available to choose between — most investment platforms have a stock screener that helps you narrow down your search, typically by performance, keyword and charges.

If you’re looking for a platform that offers ETFs, have a look at our table or head to our best ETF brokers page.

Frequently asked questions

What is the Key Investor Information Document?

This is a document of the key information about an investment, summarised into a few different sections. These are designed to be quick reads – at no more than 2 or 3 pages each, depending on the investment type, so they’re hardly competing with Harry Potter for page count.

The Key Investor Information Document is split into a few different parts:

• Objectives and investment policy. This section tells you some information about how the ETF is managed, whether it is designed to track the performance of an index, the base currency, whether you’d expect to receive an income from dividends or if they’re reinvested.
• Risk and reward profile. This section shows you how risky the ETF is. Higher risk has the potential for higher returns. You can also see any other risks involved in the ETF.
• Charges. This shows any charges associated with the fund, including the ongoing charge, which is the fee that’s paid to the fund manager.
• Past performance. Exactly as you’d expect, this is the performance of the ETF. If it’s tracking an underlying index, you may see the performance against the index.
• Analyst ratings. It’s often worth taking a look to see if any analyst ratings are included from outlets like Morningstar.

What’s the best Vanguard ETF?

Based on its 5 year performance,Vanguard S&P 500 UCITS ETF (USD) Accumulating (VUAG) is the top performing Vanguard ETF right now. To see the whole performance table, check out our Vanguard ETFs page.

What are the best ETFs to buy during a recession?

Any ETFs focusing on recession-proof stocks or industries. The difficulty is that each recession is different. So, stocks that performed well in the last recession, may not do so in the next one.

The best way to find recession-proof ETFs is to either use multiple funds covering a range of markets and industries. Or, if you’re just using one ETF, ensuring it’s as diverse as possible. Diversification through a recession is the best tactic to minimise losses and hopefully maximise gains.

Are ETFs better than investing in individual shares?

In some ways, yes. ETFs are a much quicker and cost efficient way to invest in lots of different shares without the faff or costs of making every individual transaction.

The main downsides of ETFs against buying individual shares is that you don’t get a say in the individual shares that it includes. Of course, you can choose one that suits you closest, but it won’t necessarily match what you might’ve done if you did it yourself.

Written by

George Sweeney, DipFA

Deputy editor

George is a deputy editor at Finder. He has previously written for The Motley Fool UK, Nasdaq, Freetrade, Investing in the Web, MoneyMagpie, Online Mortgage Advisor, Wealth, and Compare Forex Brokers. He's focused on making personal finance and investing engaging for everyone. To do this he draws from previous work and his Level 4 Diploma for Financial Advisers (DipFA), sharing what he’s learnt. When he’s not geeking out about money, you’ll find him playing sports and staying active. See full bio

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