2022 Recap: Top 10 ETFs' Performance

Energy ETFs dominated 2022’s top funds. The top-performing ETF, once you filter out leveraged and inverse products, was iShares MSCI Turkey ETF with a monster return of 105.81% through Dec. 31.

Turkey’s lira plummeted during the year while inflation soared as high as 80%. However, that was what drove the stock market’s outstanding performance, as domestic investors plowed in assets to hedge against skyrocketing prices.

Despite its outsized returns, U.S. investors aren’t taking the bait, and the fund has seen $82.8 million in outflows year-to-date. Indeed, a recentBloomberg articlenotes that foreign ownership of Turkish stocks hit record lows.

The top performers are energy related with one exception. The $2.6 billion VanEck Oil Services ETF  was in the No. 2 spot with a gain of 66.17%, followed by the iShares U.S. Oil Equipment & Services ETF with a return of 65.74%.

Ultimately the remaining energy funds in the top 10 ETFs in terms of returns were up anywhere from 58.27% (the Invesco Dynamic Energy Exploration & Production ETF) to 64.17% ( Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund ). Almost all of those were equity funds; however, the United States 12-Month Natural Gas Fund LP  was in the mix with a return of 57%. The fund invests in natural gas futures via a laddered strategy that maintains equal-weight exposure to the 12 nearest-month NYMEX natural gas futures.

According to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, energy costs for Americans saw an average increase of 13% year-over-year as of November.