Best ETFs for July 2024

Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) offer a way for investors to diversify their portfolio across different asset classes through a single investment product that can be bought and sold on an exchange like a stock. Top ETFs typically have a large asset base and lower operating costs. Investors can also use ETFs to mitigate investment risks and gauge the performance of an index, sector, or industry to make more informed investment decisions.

Below, we outline the top equity, bond, fixed income, commodities, and currency ETFs that generated the highest returns over the last month. We have excluded leveraged and inverse ETFs, as well as funds with less than $50 million in assets under management (AUM).

All data are current as of June 21, 2024.

Equity ETF with the Best 1-Month Return: Valkyrie Bitcoin Miners ETF (WGMI)

• One-month performance: 29.44%
• Expense ratio: 0.75%
• Annual dividend yield: N/A
• 30-day average daily volume: 455,532
• AUM: $134 million
• Inception date: Feb. 7, 2022
• Issuer: Coinshares International

Although WGMI does not invest directly in bitcoin or through derivatives or bitcoin-holding funds, the ETF invests at least 80% of its assets in companies earning at least 50% of their revenue or profits from bitcoin mining and related services, such as providing specialized chips,
hardware, and software. As of June 21, top holdings include bitcoin miners such as Iris Energy Ltd. and CleanSpark Inc.

Bond ETF with the Best 1-Month Return: SPDR iShares 25+ Year Treasury STRIPS Bond ETF (GOVZ)

• One-month performance: 5.2%
• Expense ratio: 0.1%
• Annual dividend yield: 4.3%
• 30-day average daily volume: 241,777
• AUM: $249.2 million
• Inception date: Sept. 22, 2020
• Issuer: BlackRock

This ETF provides exposure to U.S. Treasury STRIPS with long-term maturities of at least 25 years. STRIPS are bonds that have been separated into their individual interest and principal components, which are then sold as separate securities. This allows investors to buy just the interest payments or
the principal repayment separately, making it easier to manage and customize their investment strategies. GOVZ’s investment objective is to track the performance of an index composed of these long-term principal STRIPS, ensuring stable and predictable returns. Bonds continued their rally in June, as the Fed held interest rates steady during officials' June meeting while projecting a 25-basis-point cut later this year.

Fixed Income ETF with the Best 1-Month Return: First Trust Long Duration Opportunities ETF (LGOV)

• One-month performance: 2.78%
• Expense ratio: 0.67%
• Annual dividend yield: 4%
• 30-day average daily volume: 267,614
• AUM: $468 million
• Inception date: Jan. 22, 2019
• Issuer: First Trust

LGOV aims to invest at least 80% of its net assets in a portfolio of investment-grade debt securities, which are guaranteed or issued by the U.S. government, or government agencies such as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. As of May 31, over 51% of its portfolio was invested in government agency-backed collateralized mortgage obligations (CMOs)—a type of investment that pools together multiple mortgage loans and divides them into different tranches, which are then sold to investors. Each tranche has varying levels of risk and return, allowing investors to choose based on their risk tolerance and investment goals.

Commodities ETF with the Best 1-Month Return: Invesco DB Agriculture Fund (DBA)

• One-month performance: 3.6%
• Expense ratio: 0.9%
• Annual dividend yield: 3.8%
• 30-day average daily volume: 760,078
• AUM: $758 million
• Inception date: Jan. 5, 2007
• Issuer: Invesco

DBA aims to track the DBIQ Diversified Agriculture Index, which includes futures on major agricultural commodities, plus interest income from U.S. Treasury securities. This fund allows investors access to commodity futures such as cocoa, coffee, and live cattle.

Currency ETF with the Best 1-Month Return: WisdomTree Bloomberg U.S. Dollar Bullish Fund (USDU)

• One-month performance: 2.31%
• Expense ratio: 0.5%
• Annual dividend yield: 6.5%
• 30-day average daily volume: 252,025
• AUM: $256 million       
• Inception date: Dec. 18, 2013
• Issuer: WisdomTree

USDU offers investors a cost-effective way to gain exposure to the U.S. dollar against a basket of foreign currencies through an ETF. The fund attempts to generate returns exceeding the Bloomberg Dollar Total Return Index through high-quality fixed-income investments and currency forward positions. Currency forwards are financial contracts that set the price at which two currencies will be exchanged on a future date, allowing investors to lock in a specific rate.

How We Chose the Best ETFs

We selected the best ETFs across five areas of focus (equities, bonds, fixed-income, commodities, and currencies) utilizing a screener by VettaFi. In each case, we sorted ETFs according to the specified category and ranked them by highest one-month returns. We then filtered out any ETFs employing a leveraged or inverse strategy as well as any with AUM of under $50 million. Finally, for currencies ETFs, we excluded any funds focused on cryptocurrencies from our screen.

How to Invest in ETFs

Investors can buy and sell shares of ETFs in the same way they make traditional stock trades. Most brokerages provide access to a broad spectrum of ETFs. To begin, simply create and fund a brokerage account, then determine which ETFs you may be interested in purchasing. Follow the steps to initiate a buy through your particular brokerage. In most cases, it's as easy as that.

The Bottom Line

Exchange-traded funds offer investors access to an entire professionally managed portfolio of
holdings with a single transaction. Their ability to diversify and simplify a retail investor's investing process is widely regarded. One metric that investors often look to is trailing one-month performance.

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As of the date this article was written, the author does not own any of the above ETFs.