The best performing ETFs
Over ten years the winners are semiconductors and technology. In 2026 the winner is a freight futures fund up over 1,000%. The two lists share not a single name — and understanding why is worth more than either list.
The short answer
There isn't one list — there are as many lists as there are time periods, and they share almost no names. Over the past decade the winners are semiconductors and technology. In 2026 so far the winner is a freight futures fund up more than a thousand per cent. Both are true, and the gap between them is the most useful thing on this page.
Best performing over ten years
Total returns from early 2016 to early 2026, funds with at least $1bn in assets:
| Fund | Annualised | Fee | What it holds |
|---|---|---|---|
| VanEck Semiconductor (SMH) | ~27.7% | 0.35% | ~25 chip companies |
| iShares Semiconductor (SOXX) | High 20s | 0.35% | US semiconductors |
| Vanguard Information Technology (VGT) | ~20%+ | 0.09% | Broad US tech |
| Technology Select Sector (XLK) | ~20%+ | 0.08% | S&P 500 tech |
| Invesco QQQ | ~18%+ | 0.20% | Nasdaq-100 |
One category beat all of them: digital assets, at roughly 68.5% annualised through January 2026 — though only one fund in that category has a ten-year record at all, which is its own warning about what you're measuring.
Notice what the equity list has in common. Every one is a bet on the same thing, at varying concentrations: chips at the sharp end, then broad technology, then the Nasdaq. This isn't five ideas. It's one idea sliced five ways.
Best performing in 2026 so far
Now the same question over a different window, and a completely different answer. The top performer this year has been a commodity trust tracking freight rates, up over 1,000%. Excluding leveraged funds and anything under $100m, the year's leaders have been South Korea equity funds, a gasoline futures fund, Brazil, and oil services.
Not one of them appears on the ten-year list. Not one of the ten-year winners appears here.
The pattern, which is the actual answer
Every top performer is a concentrated bet
No broad global tracker ever tops a performance table, because averaging across thousands of companies is the opposite of what produces an extreme return. The funds at the top are narrow by construction — one industry, one country, one commodity — and the same narrowness that puts them first can put them last.
The list is a description of the past, not a shortlist
A fund appears there because it already rose. Buying it means buying after the move, at the point where the thesis is most widely accepted and least discounted.
Volatility is the price of the return
The best-performing category over ten years had wildly divergent one, three and five-year figures — the average conceals a ride most people would have abandoned partway through. A return you can't sit through isn't a return you get.
Leveraged funds don't belong in any of this
The 3x semiconductor and Nasdaq products often appear near the top of short-term tables. They decay over time by construction, are designed for day trading, and are not long-term holdings whatever their volume suggests.
What UK investors can actually buy
US-domiciled funds like SMH, SOXX, VGT, XLK and QQQ are generally blocked for UK retail investors under the PRIIPs rules. The workable equivalents are UCITS versions listed in London:
| Exposure | US fund | UK-buyable |
|---|---|---|
| Nasdaq-100 | QQQ | EQQQ |
| S&P 500 | VOO / IVV / SPY | VUSA (income), VUAG (accumulating), CSPX |
| Global all-world | VTI | VWRL (income), VWRP (accumulating) |
| Semiconductors | SMH / SOXX | UCITS semiconductor funds exist — check your broker |
The accumulating versions reinvest dividends inside the fund, which suits long-term compounding; the income versions pay them out. Same portfolio, different outcome over decades — see why that compounds.
The concentration you may already own
Before adding a technology or semiconductor fund, check what your existing tracker holds. In the Vanguard S&P 500 UCITS ETF as at July 2026, the ten largest holdings were around 39% of the whole fund — NVIDIA roughly 7.9%, Apple 7.1%, Alphabet 6.1% across both share classes, Microsoft 5.2%, Amazon 4.1%, Broadcom 3.3% — with technology about 39% of the index by sector.
Adding QQQ or a chip fund on top isn't diversification. It's the same companies again, at a second fee. See what's actually inside an ETF.
What to check before buying any of them
The period the ranking uses
One year, three, five or ten produce different lists. Whoever chose the window chose the winners.
The worst drawdown, not just the return
Peak-to-trough tells you whether you'd have held on. It's the number performance tables leave out.
Fee against what it does
0.35% for a concentrated sector fund is defensible; 0.35% for something that mostly replicates an index you already own is not.
Whether it's leveraged or synthetic
Both change what you own in ways the name doesn't reveal. See ETF vs ETC.
Know what you already own
Oak Growth ranks ETFs and values roughly 1,000 individual companies across eight markets — so you can see the overlap between a tracker and anything you're thinking of adding.
Explore Oak GrowthCommon questions
What are the best performing ETFs?
It depends entirely on the period. Over the ten years to early 2026 semiconductor and technology funds led, with the VanEck Semiconductor ETF at roughly 27.7% annualised. In 2026 alone the leaders have been a freight futures fund up over 1,000%, plus South Korea, gasoline, Brazil and oil services funds — with no overlap between the two lists.
Should I buy the best performing ETF?
A fund appears on those lists because it has already risen, so buying means entering after the move. Top performers are also concentrated by construction — one sector, country or commodity — and the same narrowness that produced the return can reverse it. Broad, low-cost trackers never top performance tables and are what most long-term investors hold.
Can UK investors buy SMH, QQQ or VOO?
Generally not. Those are US-domiciled funds that don't publish the Key Information Document UK rules require, so brokers block retail purchases. UK investors buy UCITS equivalents listed in London instead — EQQQ for the Nasdaq-100, VUSA or VUAG and CSPX for the S&P 500, VWRP for a global fund.
Why do leveraged ETFs appear at the top of performance tables?
Because they multiply daily index moves, which produces extreme short-term returns in a rising market. They also decay over time through the way daily rebalancing compounds, so they are designed as trading instruments rather than long-term holdings, and can fall far faster than the index they track.
Also see: What is an ETF? → · ETF vs ETC → · What is passive investing? →