ETF Funds: The Best Big Guys Of 2013

Interested in ETF Funds? Exchange Traded Funds have gained a surge in popularity in the recent couple of years. Investors that decide to put their money in ETFs have a bunch of reasons that justify their decision. ETF funds combine the best features of stocks and investment funds, which means that they offer investors the possibility to diversify their portfolios by investing in a whole basket of securities. ETF funds also have tax and cost advantages as well.

Now, to respond to the market’s high demand, there are over a thousand ETF funds that track market indices, companies or commodities like gold, silver, oil, real estate, etc. So an investor might find it hard to pick the best ETFs, especially taking into account that each ETF fund have a variety of metrics that describe their activity.

However, two of the most important figures that need to be followed are the assets under management held by the ETF fund, which define the size of the fund, and the return, which show the price variation of the ETF, since it is behaving like a stock. Also, an important detail about an ETF fund is what it tracks, whether it is an index or a commodity.

In a style similar to our coverage of short ETFs, we’ll take you through some of the best performing and biggest ETF funds in 2013. ProShares Ultra Russell2000 (ETF) (NYSEARCA:UWM) is on the list; continue reading to see the best ETF funds:

No. 10 PowerShare Buyback Achievers Fund (ETF) (NYSEARCA:PKW)

PKW data by YCharts

Assets Under Management: $1.3 billion
Year-to-date return: 25.5%
Index the ETF fund tracks: Share BuyBack Achievers Index

No. 9 First Trust DJ Internet Index Fund (ETF) (NYSEARCA:FDN)

FDN data by YCharts

Assets Under Management: $1.3 billion
Year-to-date return: 26.3%
Index the ETF fund tracks: Dow Jones Internet Index

No. 8 SPDR KBW Bank (ETF) (NYSEARCA:KBE)

KBE data by YCharts

Assets Under Management: $2.5 billion
Year-to-date return: 26.6%
Index the ETF fund tracks: S&P Banks Select Industry Index

No. 7 First Trust Health Care AlphaDEX Fd(ETF) (NYSEARCA:FXH)

FXH data by YCharts

Assets Under Management: $1.0 billion
Year-to-date return: 27%
Index the ETF fund tracks: StrataQuant Health Care Index

No. 6 SPDR KBW Regional Banking (ETF) (NYSEARCA:KRE)

KRE data by YCharts

Assets Under Management: $2.2 billion
Year-to-date return: 27.1%
Index the ETF fund tracks: S&P Regional Banks Select Industry Index

No. 5 ProShares Ultra S&P500 (ETF) (NYSEARCA:SSO)

SSO data by YCharts

Assets Under Management: $1.5 billion
Year-to-date return: 32.5%
Index the ETF fund tracks: S&P 500 Index

No. 4 ProShares Ultra MidCap400 (ETF) (NYSEARCA:MVV)

MVV data by YCharts

Assets Under Management: $1.4 billion
Year-to-date return: 36.7%
Index the ETF fund tracks: S&P MidCap 400 Index

No. 3 iShares NASDAQ Biotechnology Index (ETF) (NASDAQ:IBB)

IBB data by YCharts

Assets Under Management: $3.7 billion
Year-to-date return: 40.3%
Index the ETF fund tracks: NASDAQ Biotechnology Index

No. 2 ProShares Ultra Russell2000 (ETF) (NYSEARCA:UWM)

UWM data by YCharts

Assets Under Management: $1.4 billion
Year-to-date return: 43.3%
Index the ETF fund tracks: Russell 2000 Index

No. 1 Direxion Daily Financial Bull 3X Shares (NYSEARCA:FAS)

FAS data by YCharts

Assets Under Management: $1.2 billion
Year-to-date return: 59.7%
Index the ETF fund tracks: Russell 1000 Financial Services Index