Are you looking for outperforming
exchange-traded-funds (ETFs)?
Check out Invesco Dynamic Software Portfolio ETF (PSJ).
It has returned (share price appreciation plus dividends) 29% over
the past 12 months compared to 8% for the
overall market, at least as gauged by the S&P 500.
Stocks Driving ETF Outperformance?
Maybe, rather than buying the Invesco ETF, you’re
more interested in which stocks drove that outperformance. No
problem. Its top five holdings were Cadence Design Systems (CDNS),
VMware (VMW), Cerner (CERN), Activision Blizzard (ATVI) and
Atlassian (TEAM).
Four More Hot ETFs
Here are the next four
top performing ETFs holding mainly U.S.-based stocks based on
12-month returns. Invesco Russell MidCap Pure Growth (PXMG), up 24%
over 12 months, Fidelity MSCI Telecommunications Services (FCOM), up
21%, SPDR Software & Services (XSW), up 21% and SPDR S&P
Semiconductor (XSD), up 20%.
Seeking Alpha's Almost Secret ETF
Screener
I used Seeking Alpha’s little-known ETF Screener to
find these ETFs. If you spend much time online, you’re probably
already familiar with Seeking Alpha’s main thing, which is
publishing dozens of stock analysis articles daily, some written by
highly-qualified stock analysts and others penned by people just
like you and me.
But, you may not be aware of Seeking Alpha’s many
other features, including the ETF Screener. Find it by hovering
over the Analysis dropdown menu on Seeking Alpha’s main menu (seekingalpha.com)
and then selecting ETF Screener.
Using the ETF Screener
The Screener offer seven different dropdown menus to
construct your own screen or you could select one of five available
preset screens.
To find the ETFs described above, I specified “U.S.
Equities” for Asset Class and “Performance: 12-month greater then
10%.” I also checked the boxes labeled “Exclude Leveraged’ and
“Exclude Inverse” to preclude listing those specialty ETF types.
After running a screen you can click on parameter
names such as Performance, Yield, and Risk to sort the list of
passing ETFs based on those factors. Clicking on an ETF ticker
brings up another page offering data specific to that ETF.
Clicking on Strategy displays a surprisingly
understandable description of the fund’s portfolio selection
strategy. Selecting Holdings on the ETF’s menu lists its top 10
holdings. That was where I found the top five holdings for Invesco
Dynamic Software that I described above.
If China Trade Talks Go Wrong
At this writing, nobody knows what’s going to happen
with the U.S/China trade talks. If they end badly, the tech-heavy
ETFs mentioned above will probably underperform. In that case, you
might want to consider high-dividend paying ETFs.
No problem. Keep the 12-Month Performance filter set
at “greater than 10%,” but also use the screener’s Yield dropdown
menu to select “yield greater than 4%.”
Three ETFs for a Weak Market
The screener listed three ETFs meeting those
requirements: First Trust North American Energy Infrastructure (EMLP),
which pays a 4.0% dividend yield (annual dividend percent of share
price) and returned 13% over the last 12 months, Legg Mason Low
Volatility High Dividend (LVHD), which pays a 4.4% yield and
returned 12% over 12 months, and VanEck Vectors BDC Income (BIZD),
which pays a 9.4% yield and also returned 12%.
As always, past performance doesn’t predict the
future. Nevertheless, Seeking Alpha’s ETF Screener could be a good
resource for pinpointing ETFs research candidates.
published 5/15/19
