These are the best-performing ETFs over the last three months, six months, one year, three years, five years, and 10 years.
All ETFs on the list meet the following basic requirements:
- Non-leveraged
- At least 100K in daily average volume.
- Traded on U.S. exchanges.
These criteria are used to avoid ETFs with very low volume. Also, while leveraged ETFs may provide big returns in the short-term, many do not fair well over the long-term, and witness significant drawdowns as well.
All data is sourced from StockRover as of April 21, 2025. StockRover is the scanner I use for swing trading, investing, and fundamental analysis.
Returns include dividends and assume reinvestment. The % Performance is the total return over the period. These lists are updated near the middle of each month.
If more than one ETF tracking the same investment/industry is on the list, only the top-performing one is included in the numbered list. The tickers of the other ETFs tracking a similar thing, and which have returns higher than the next ETF on the numbered list, are included in the Additional ETFs & Return column.
Best Performing ETFs Over the Last 3 Months
These are the top-performing ETFs over the last three months, as of April 21, 2025.
| Ticker | ETF Name | 3-Month Performance | Average Volume (3 Months) | Dividend Yield | Additional ETFs & Return |
| VXX | iPath Series B S&P 500 VIX Short-Term Futures ETN | 74.1% | 12.1 million | 0% | VIXY: 71.8% |
| CRSH | YieldMax Short TSLA Option Income Strategy ETF | 58.9% | 0.3 million | 93.2% (fluctuates wildly) | |
| FIAT | YieldMax Short COIN Option Income Strategy ETF | 45.6% | 0.5 million | 130.5% (fluctuates wildly) | |
| GDXJ | VanEck Junior Gold Miners ETF | 41.5% | 4.8 million | 0.9% | RING: 41% GDX: 40.6% |
| EUAD | Select STOXX European Aerospace & Defense ETF | 33.7% | 0.6 million | 0.1% | |
| SLVP | iShares MSCI Global Silver and Metals Miners ETF | 29.9% | 0.2 million | 0.8% |
Best Performing ETFs Over the Last 6 Months
These are the top-performing ETFs over the last six months, as of April 21, 2025.
| Ticker | ETF Name | 6-Month Performance | Average Volume (3 Months) | Dividend Yield | Additional ETFs & Return |
| PLTY | Yieldmax PLTR Option Income Strategy ETF | 60% | 0.1 million | 110.4% (fluctuates wildly) | |
| VXX | iPath Series B S&P 500 VIX Short-Term Futures ETN | 49.4% | 12.1 million | 0% | VIXY: 46.4% VIXM: 33% |
| MSTY | Yieldmax MSTR Option Income Strategy ETF | 32.5% | 6.1 million | 75.3% (fluctuates wildly) | |
| SHLD | Global X Defense Tech ETF | 28.6% | 0.6 million | 0.6% | |
| EPOL | iShares MSCI Poland ETF | 27.8% | 0.5 million | 4.4% | |
| BITB | Bitwise Bitcoin ETF | 27.3% | 1.4 million | 0% | IBIT: 27.3% |
You may also want to check out the Best Performing Stocks list
Best Performing ETFs Over the Last 1 Year
These are the top-performing ETFs over the last year, as of April 21, 2025.
| Ticker | ETF Name | 1-Year Performance | Average Volume (3 Months) | Dividend Yield | Additional ETFs & Return |
| MSTY | Yieldmax MSTR Option Income Strategy ETF | 107.4% | 6.1 million | 75.3% (fluctuates wildly) | |
| RING | iShares MSCI Global Gold Miners ETF | 63.1% | 0.4 million | 0.9% | GDXJ: 60.3% |
| ARGT | Global X MSCI Argentina ETF | 60.2% | 0.4 million | 1.4% | |
| SHLD | Global X Defense Tech ETF | 57.8% | 0.6 million | 0.6% | |
| NFLY | iShares MSCI Global Silver and Metals Miners ETF | 52.1% | 0.2 million | 42% (fluctuates wildly) | |
| QQQY | Defiance Nasdaq 100 Enhanced Options Income ETF | 49% | 0.1 million | 95% (fluctuates wildly) |
Best Performing ETFs Over the Last 3 Years
These are the top-performing ETFs over the last three years, as of April 21, 2025.
| Ticker | ETF Name | 3-Year Performance | Average Volume (3 Months) | Dividend Yield | Additional ETFs & Return |
| GBTC | Grayscale Bitcoin Trust ETF | 154.3% | 2.5 million | 0% | |
| ARGT | Global X MSCI Argentina ETF | 151% | 0.4 million | 1.4% | |
| PFIX | Simplify Interest Rate Hedge ETF | 106.6% | 0.1 million | 3.1% | |
| FNGS | MicroSectors FANG+ ETN | 87.7% | 0.2 million | 0% | |
| EPOL | iShares MSCI Poland ETF | 76.5% | 0.5 million | 4.4% | |
| EUFN | iShares MSCI Europe Financials ETF | 75.3% | 2 million | 4.4% |
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Best Performing ETFs Over the Last 5 Years
These are the top-performing ETFs over the last five years, as of April 21, 2025.
| Ticker | ETF Name | 5-Year Performance | Average Volume (3 Months) | Dividend Yield | Additional ETFs & Return |
| GBTC | Grayscale Bitcoin Trust | 947.5% | 2.5 million | 0% | |
| ARGT | Global X MSCI Argentina ETF | 402.4% | 0.4 million | 1.4% | |
| FCG | First Trust Natural Gas ETF | 296.7% | 0.4 million | 3.9% | |
| ARGT | Global X MLP & Energy Infrastructure ETF | 265.6% | 0.6 million | 4.7% | |
| BNO | Unites States Brent Oil Fund, LP | 257.4% | 0.6 million | 0% | |
| AMLP | Alerian MLP ETF | 251.7% | 1.6 million | 8.2% |
From Canada? Check out the Best Performing Canadian ETFs list.
Best Performing ETFs Over the Last 10 Years
These are the top-performing ETFs over the last 10 years, as of April 21, 2025.
| | Ticker | ETF Name | 10-Year Performance | Average Volume (3 Months) | Dividend Yield | Additional ETFs & Return |
| 1 | GBTC | Grayscale Bitcoin Trust | 16,467.6% | 2.5 million | 0% | |
| 2 | SMH | VanEck Semiconductors ETF | 652% | 7.7 million | 0.6% | SOXX: 475.9% |
| 3 | VGT | Vanguard Information Technology Index ETF | 406.2% | 0.8 million | 0.6% | XLK: 403.3% IGM: 398.7% FTEC: 395.8% IYW: 392.5% |
| 4 | ARKW | ARK Next Generation Internet ETF | 386.7% | 0.2 million | 0% | |
| 5 | IXN | iShares Global Tech ETF | 361.5% | 0.4 million | 0.6% | |
| 6 | IGV | iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF | 339.5% | 6.4 million | 0% |
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How to Scan for the Best Performing ETFs
Scanning for the best-performing ETFs is straightforward and doesn’t require buying any special software.
Using a free site like TradingView (you can pay for more features and to remove ads), click the Screener button. When you have a chart up (like via the link above), it is the Target/Bullseye looking icon near the bottom right.
At the top select ETF screener from the drop-down list. If average volume isn’t shown by default, click the add button and search for volume. Add average volume and input a number such as greater than 100K to show ETFs with at least that much volume or more.
Then, click the Performance tab. This will show how all the ETFs on the list have performed over various time frames. Sort the list by one year (Perf% 1Y) to see the top-performing ETFs over the last year, for example. Leverage ETFs are included on the TradingView screener. You can exclude them on some other screeners, like StockRover.
This is just an example of how to scan for ETFs using a stock screener. Many other scanners work in a similar way.
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By Cory Mitchell, CMT
Disclaimer: Nothing in this article is personal investment advice, or advice to buy or sell anything. Trading is risky and can result in substantial losses, even more than deposited if using leverage. Data is sourced from third parties and is intended for information purposes only. There may be errors in data, so check with other sources before relying on such data.
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