New York
CNN
—
oil reserves soaring in 2022, so it’s no surprise that funds that track the energy sector have Wall Street Winner This year. But the top fund of the year is a surprise: It invests in many companies based in Turkey.
The iShares MSCI Turkey Exchange-Traded Fund has more than doubled since December 19, according to data from Morningstar Direct. The fund has large stakes in Turkish financial giant Akbank, Istanbul-based retailer Bim and the parent company of Turkish Airlines.
Turkey has been hit hard by inflation, like the rest of the world, and its currency, the lira, has plummeted against the US dollar and other leading global currencies. .
So why big profits?
Turkey’s stock market is thriving because it’s doing something most other countries don’t: The country’s central bank has interest rate cut to boost consumer spending. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan wants to keep interest rates super low. He even fired several central bank officials over the past few years who refused to lower interest rates.
The Turkish economy has slowed down recently as the unemployment rate has increased, but the instability did not affect Turkish stocks. The iShares Turkey ETF has also seen a boost on higher energy prices, as the Tüpraş refinery is the top holding.
Other US and international oil funds and ETFs also topped Morningstar Direct’s list. (Morningstar Direct provided CNN Business with its rankings of the best and worst ETFs and mutual funds for 2022, excluding so-called leveraged funds that bet excessively on stock market indices. .)
US 12 month natural gas
(UNL)Energy choose industry SPDR
(XLE) and several oil/energy funds run by leading investment firms such as Fidelity, Vanguard and BlackRock’s
(BLK) iShares are all up from 50% to 80% for the year.
In this tough year for stocks, in the world of mutual funds and ETFs in 2022, there are significantly more losers than winners. SPDR S&P 500 ETF
(Spy) and Invesco QQQ
(QQQ)tracks the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100, down 19% and 31%, respectively.
But no fund has been hit harder than an ETF when it comes to Russia exposure.
Most of the funds invested in leading Russian companies were liquidated or suspended after trading Vladimir Putin’s decision to invade Ukraine In end of february, an act that essentially forced the United States, Europe, and the rest of the Western world to sever ties with Moscow and Russian businesses.
Investments in Russian ETFs from iShares, VanEck, and Voya were almost wiped out.
The carnage in cryptocurrencies also hit some funds hard. The bitcoin price plunged even before the demise of former crypto unicorn FTX. But the stunning collapse of Sam Bankman-Fried’s company sent further shock waves throughout the industry.
Funds from Osprey, Grayscale, VanEck (again), Global X, Bitwise, First Trust, Invesco and many more institutional investment firms are all down more than 70% in 2022.
Other trendy funds have also been hit hard this year.
some Ark ETF run by Cathie Wood, who has had substantial exposure to Tesla
(TSLA), CoinbaseZoom
(ZM)Roku
(ROKU) and other momentum tech stocks have plummeted in 2022, among the fund’s biggest losers.
A lot of funds focused on cannabis reserves also went live this year. Cannabis ETFs from AdvisorShares, Global X and Amplify are all down more than 60%. Although many states are legalizing recreational and medicinal weed, stiff competition in the business is making it difficult for cannabis companies to turn a profit.
