ETF fees, holdings, flows and performance compared, from core index funds to dividend, bond, gold and thematic ETFs.
Bitcoin ETFs like IBIT fell 40% from January to June 2026 with a 0.45 correlation to small caps and 46.8% volatility, which argues for a 1% to 5% portfolio weight.
Index funds vs active funds in 2026: S&P's mid-year SPIVA scorecard found 67% of large-cap active funds trailed the S&P 500 in the first half, and 93% trailed over 20 years.
Infrastructure and utilities ETFs split in 2026: PAVE returned 36.30% and IFRA 30.46% over one year while XLU fell 10.1% from April, even as EIA forecasts record power demand.
ETF flows in 2026 reached $1.18 trillion of net issuance through July, nearly double the 2025 pace, as ETF assets hit $15.67 trillion. Where the money went by category, using ICI data.
Covered call ETFs JEPI and JEPQ yielded 7.44% and 13.32% as of August 31, 2026, but returned 5.36% and 10.97% year to date against 13.14% and 17.14% for their indexes.
Gold ETFs in 2026 fell 6.7% in the first half, then recovered: GLD was up 5.64% year to date by August 31 as gold futures rebounded from $4,038 on June 30 to $4,540 by September 3.
Leveraged and inverse ETFs reset daily, so TQQQ gained 54.25% and SQQQ lost 45.71% in the first half of 2026, neither figure three times the index or the other's mirror.
T-bill ETFs such as SGOV and BIL yielded about 3.5% to 3.8% in 2026 with almost no price risk. With 3-month bills at 3.80% on August 25, here is what cash-like ETFs pay and when they fit.
ETF tax efficiency rests on in kind redemptions: an 8% capital gains distribution on $100,000 costs $1,200 to $1,904 in federal tax that a comparable ETF investor defers.
Bond ETFs in 2026: the 10-year Treasury yield rose from 3.74% in January to 4.51% by August 14. What that did to TLT, BND and AGG, and what their yields and durations mean now.
Sector ETF rotation in 2026 was wide: XLK gained 32.68% and XLE 20.52% in the first half while XLF lost 1.22%, and utilities have slipped since midyear.
International ETFs in 2026 beat the S&P 500 in the first half: VEA returned 14.99%, VXUS 13.97% and VWO 11.19% versus 10.19% for VOO, with the dollar roughly flat against the euro.
Buffer ETFs absorb the first 9% to 15% of index losses for a year in exchange for caps of 13.98% to 18.14% in the July 2026 series, plus a 0.79% annual fee.
Small-cap ETFs in 2026 are beating large caps: VB returned 18.24% in the first half and IWM 40.59% over one year to June 30, 2026, at lower multiples than the S&P 500.
A three-fund ETF portfolio of ITOT, IXUS and AGG costs about 0.04% a year and yielded 1.65% to 3.21% as of June 30, 2026, depending on the stock and bond split.
RSP vs SPY in 2026: the equal-weight fund returned 12.03% in the first half against 10.13% for SPY, reversing years of lagging, with a 0.20% fee and far less mega-cap concentration.
The three biggest dividend ETFs returned 24.1% (SCHD), 21.52% (VYM) and 17.53% (VIG) in the year to June 30, 2026, with very different holdings, sector tilts and yields.
QQQ returned 20.19% in the first half of 2026, but its top ten holdings were 44.9% of the fund and technology was 68.5%. Here is what QQQ concentration risk means now.
Semiconductor ETFs SOXX and SMH rose 88.1% and 64.5% in 2026 through July 2, but hold 25 to 30 stocks, with a 61% top ten weight and a 76 times earnings multiple.
SPY vs VOO vs IVV in 2026: SPY charges 0.0945% against 0.03% for VOO and IVV, and the cheaper funds returned 15.47% a year over ten years versus 15.35% for SPY.