Best and worst-performing ETFs in 2025
Kyle Caldwell runs through the best and worst performers among exchange-traded funds (ETFs) over the past year.
23rd December 2025 10:57
by Kyle Caldwell from interactive investor
In common with the best-performing funds and investment trusts in 2025, the dominant area of the market for exchange-traded funds (ETFs) has been commodities.
The table below shows the biggest winners over the past year among conventional ETFs, with leveraged strategies stripped out. As our separate article points out, such ETFs are highly risky and speculative, and shouldn’t be held for more than one day.
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ETFs specialising in gold and silver dominate the top 10 table. There have been various drivers at play for both, including geopolitical risks, the weakness in the US dollar and high government debt levels. For gold, another key factor has been increased buying by central banks.
While it isn’t always the case, mining shares are considered to offer potentially higher returns when gold and silver spot prices are rising. This has happened over the past year, with gold mining ETFs outperforming products that track the ups and downs of the gold and silver price.
In a recent podcast episode with interactive investor, Olivia Markham, co-manager of BlackRock World Mining Trust (LSE:BRWM), explained why. She said: “The companies are being disciplined, and the gold companies have done a great job of capturing high gold prices, turning it into higher cash flow, and stepping up dividends. That’s why these gold companies have given you that 2:1 ratio in terms of their performance relative to the move in the underlying gold price.”
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Top-performing ETFs over the past year
One-year performance data sourced on 19 December 2025 from Morningstar. Past performance is not a guide to future performance.
With any specialist type of investment experiencing a purple patch, it’s important to take a step back and assess whether the amount of exposure you now have is commensurate with your appetite for risk.
A key question to ask is whether you still view the fund as a buy. If that’s not the case, it could be time to take some profits and rebalance. Doing so means the risk level of a portfolio is reduced and can be restored to the previous level.
Outside the top 10, other commodity-focused strategies focused on platinum, copper and palladium also fared very well. Both Invesco Physical Platinum ETC GBP (LSE:SPPP) and iShares Physical Platinum ETC GBP (LSE:SPLT) are up 102%, Sprott Pure Play Copper Miners ETF GBP (LSE:COPP)is up 88.8%, while iShares Physical Palladium ETC GBP (LSE:SPDM) and Invesco Physical Palladium ETC GBP (LSE:SPAP) are up around 76%.
Exchange-traded commodities (ETCs) is the structure used for single commodities that track the spot price. Like ETFs, they are listed on a stock exchange and traded throughout the day like shares.
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Outside commodities, other niche strategies that fared well over the past year include those with exposure to European banks, South Korea, defence, and space exploration.
At the other end of the table, when stripping out leveraged approaches, some niche areas have posted sizeable losses, including natural gas, wheat and sugar. Those investing in India or cloud computing are also in the red over one year.
With any niche or specialist investment, it’s important to limit exposure, be aware of the risks involved, and not simply buy and hold as conditions and investor sentiment can quickly change.
Despite concerns about the US market carrying high valuations those investors who “owned the world” have had a strong year, with the typical global ETF up around 17%.
Options include SPDR MSCI All Country World ETF GBP (LSE:ACWI), Vanguard FTSE All-World UCITS ETF GBP (LSE:VWRL) and iShares MSCI ACWI ETF USD Acc GBP (LSE:SSAC). Global funds are examples of potential core holdings. The US accounts for around 70% of the typical global tracker.
These articles are provided for information purposes only. Occasionally, an opinion about whether to buy or sell a specific investment may be provided by third parties. The content is not intended to be a personal recommendation to buy or sell any financial instrument or product, or to adopt any investment strategy as it is not provided based on an assessment of your investing knowledge and experience, your financial situation or your investment objectives. The value of your investments, and the income derived from them, may go down as well as up. You may not get back all the money that you invest. The investments referred to in this article may not be suitable for all investors, and if in doubt, an investor should seek advice from a qualified investment adviser.
Full performance can be found on the company or index summary page on the interactive investor website. Simply click on the company's or index name highlighted in the article.