ETFdb Logo
ETFdb Logo
  • ETF Database
  • Channels
    • Themes
      • Active ETF
      • Artificial Intelligence
      • Beyond Basic Beta
      • China Insights
      • Climate Insights
      • Core Strategies
      • Crypto
      • Disruptive Technology
      • Energy Infrastructure
      • ETF Building Blocks
      • ETF Investing
      • ETF Education
      • ETF Strategist
      • Financial Literacy
      • Fixed Income
      • Free Cash Flow
      • Innovative ETFs
      • Institutional Income Strategies
      • Leveraged & Inverse
      • Managed Futures
      • Market Insights
      • Modern Alpha
      • Multifactor
      • Responsible Investing
      • Retirement Income
      • Tax Efficient Income
    • Asset Class
      • Equity
        • U.S. Equity
        • Int'l Developed
        • Emerging Market Equities
      • Alternatives
        • Commodities
        • Gold/Silver/Critical Minerals
        • Currency
        • Volatility
      • Fixed Income
        • Investment Grade Corporates
        • US Treasuries & TIPS
        • High Yield Corporates
        • Int'l Fixed Income
    • ETF Ecosystem
    • ETFs in Canada
  • Tools
    • ETF Screener
    • ETF Country Exposure Tool
    • ETF Sector Tracker Tool
    • ETF Database Categories
    • Head-To-Head ETF Comparison Tool
    • ETF Stock Exposure Tool
    • ETF Issuer Fund Flows
    • Indexes
    • Mutual Fund To ETF Converter
  • Research
    • ETF Education
    • Equity Investing
    • Dividend ETFs
    • Leveraged ETFs
    • Inverse ETFs
    • Index Education
    • Index Insights
    • Top ETF Sectors
    • Top ETF Issuers
    • Top ETF Industries
  • Webcasts
  • Themes
    • AI ETFs
    • Blockchain ETFs
    • See all Thematic Investing ETF themes
    • ESG Investing
    • Marijuana ETFs
  • Multimedia
    • ETF 360 Video Series
    • ETF of the Week Podcast
    • ETF Prime Podcast
    • Video
  • Company
    • About VettaFi
    • Get VettaFi’ed
  • PRO
    • Pro Content
    • Pro Tools
    • Advanced
    • FAQ
    • Pricing
    • Free Sign Up
    • Login
  1. ETF Trading Strategies
  2. 50 ETFs Day Traders Love
ETF Trading Strategies
Share

50 ETFs Day Traders Love

Stoyan BojinovJun 24, 2015
2015-06-24

The fact that ETFs trade intraday like stocks is a major draw for active investors looking to generate alpha by moving in and out of the market to play macroeconomic trends (as opposed to relying on a buy-and-hold or company-specific strategy).

Not surprisingly, day traders have embraced these financial instruments as viable tools for achieving cheap and incredibly liquid exposure to virtually any corner of the global market. One way to gauge trading activity levels in the ETF universe is to consider a fund’s turnover, the percentage of an ETF’s outstanding shares changing hands on a daily basis.

Be sure to see the 17 ETFs for Day Traders.

pointing to stock chart on screen

The higher the turnover, the more popular the ETF is said to be among active traders. A higher turnover means a greater proportion of shares changing hands, which in turn implies a shorter average holding period, compared to an ETF with a lower turnover.

Below, we profile a few ETFs that have surprisingly high turnovers (as of 4/21/2015)*.

  • iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF (TLT B-): Over 10% of the fund’s outstanding shares change hands everyday, which is quite shocking considering that buy-and-hold is generally the most common strategy for fixed income investors. Because of TLT’s vast liquidity, it’s no wonder that active traders have embraced this ETF as the go-to instrument when it comes to establishing exposure to U.S. Treasuries.
  • iShares Russell 2000 ETF (IWM A-): Just over 12% of IWM’s shares change hands everyday, making it more of a trading instrument for those looking to move in and out of small caps, rather than an investment vehicle for the long haul.
  • State Street Utilities Select Sector SPDR (XLU A): Utilities fall on the low end of the volatility spectrum for equities. As such, it’s surprising to see that XLU is the sector ETF with the highest turnover rate at 6%.
  • State Street SPDR S&P 500 (SPY A): SPY is the biggest ETF by assets, so it may be surprising for some to see it on the list of funds with the highest turnover. The reality is that SPY is a favorite among traders. Investors looking to access large-cap U.S. stocks generally flock to its cheaper counterparts, namely the iShares S&P 500 ETF (IVV A) and Vanguard’s S&P 500 ETF (VOO A).

Content continues below advertisement

Top 50 ETFs with the Highest Turnover

The table below features the top 50 ETFs with the highest turnover:

TickersNameTurnover
(OIH B+)Market Vectors Oil Services ETF33.37%
(USO B)United States Oil Fund15.86%
(FXI A)iShares China Large-Cap ETF15.30%
(SPY A)SPDR S&P 50013.63%
(EWZ A-)iShares MSCI Brazil Capped ETF13.63%
(IWM A-)iShares Russell 2000 ETF12.06%
(IYR B+)iShares U.S. Real Estate ETF11.77%
(FAZ A-)Daily Financial Bear 3X Shares11.67%
(XME A-)SPDR S&P Metals & Mining ETF11.13%
(TLT B-)20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF11.00%
(FAS A)Daily Financial Bull 3X Shares10.58%
(EZA B-)iShares MSCI South Africa ETF7.33%
(DIA B+)Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF7.02%
(XBI A)SPDR S&P Biotech ETF6.95%
(QQQ B+)QQQ6.89%
(FTGC )Global Tactical Commodity Strategy Fund6.46%
(XLU A)Utilities Select Sector SPDR6.27%
(ECH C+)iShares MSCI Chile Capped ETF6.10%
(EEM A-)iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF6.07%
(IBB A-)Nasdaq Biotechnology5.87%
(AMZA )InfraCap MLP ETF5.72%
(XLB A)Materials Select Sector SPDR4.87%
(TUR A-)MSCI Turkey ETF4.14%
(EWY B)iShares MSCI South Korea Capped ETF4.07%
(EWA B+)MSCI Australia ETF3.94%
(THD C+)MSCI Thailand Capped ETF3.91%
(XLY A)Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR3.86%
(PIN B-)India Portfolio3.81%
(EWM B+)iShares MSCI Malaysia ETF3.74%
(XLF A)Financial Select Sector SPDR3.50%
(EWQ B)iShares MSCI France ETF3.30%
(EWD B-)iShares MSCI Sweden ETF3.07%
(EWI B+)iShares MSCI Italy Capped ETF3.06%
(SHY A-)1-3 Year Treasury Bond ETF3.04%
(EWH B+)iShares MSCI Hong Kong ETF2.91%
(IYE A-)iShares U.S. Energy ETF2.73%
(ILF A+)iShares Latin America 40 ETF2.58%
(EWL B+)iShares MSCI Switzerland Capped ETF2.52%
(LTPZ C+)15+ Year U.S. TIPS Index Fund2.35%
(HYG B+)iShares iBoxx $ High Yield Corporate Bond ETF2.20%
(EWG B)iShares MSCI Germany ETF2.07%
(EWP B+)iShares MSCI Spain Capped ETF2.04%
(EWJ A)iShares MSCI Japan ETF1.81%
(TIP A-)TIPS Bond ETF1.78%
(IWO B)iShares Russell 2000 Growth ETF1.71%
(IEF B)iShares 7-10 Year Treasury Bond ETF1.67%
(JNK A-)SPDR Barclays Capital High Yield Bond ETF1.67%
(BBH B-)Market Vectors Biotech ETF1.65%
(RTH A-)Market Vectors Retail ETF1.58%
(EMB A-)iShares J.P. Morgan USD Emerging Markets Bond ETF1.58%

The Bottom Line

ETFs have found their way into countless portfolios as investors have embraced the benefits of the exchange-traded product structure. Active traders have also embraced these instruments for their vast liquidity, utilizing them as tactical tools capable of delivering granular exposure to various corners of the global market. The high turnover of some ETFs showcases that active traders have embraced some ETFs more than others, and as such, this should prompt prospective buyers to look under the hood and determine whether or not the fund they’re considering is better suited as a trading or investment vehicle.

*ETFdb.com calculates turnover as a percentage figure comprising the fund’s five-day average trading volume divided by the number of shares outstanding.

Follow me on Twitter @SBojinov.

For more ETF analysis, make sure to sign up for our free ETF newsletter.

Disclosure: No positions at time of writing.

» Popular Pages

  • Tickers
  • Articles

Oct 02

ROSC Accesses Small-Cap Value Stocks

Oct 02

Shutdown Avoided! Now Buy Some Treasuries

Oct 02

Top Performing ETFs: Income and Asia ETFs on Top

Oct 02

World Markets Watchlist: October 2

Oct 02

DBMF a Strong Buy at Start of 4th Quarter

Oct 02

The U.S. Government Didn’t Shut Down, Treasury Yields Are Now Up

Oct 02

DGRW Nets Nearly $250 Million in One-Week Flows

Oct 02

Treasury Yields: The Long-Term Perspective

Oct 02

Ether Futures ETFs Debut as Crypto Fever Heats Up Again

Oct 02

With EFUT, VanEck Eyes Ether Futures

QQQ

Invesco QQQ Trust Series I

SPY

SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust

VOO

Vanguard S&P 500 ETF

TSLY

YieldMax TSLA Option Income...

SCHD

Schwab US Dividend Equity ETF...

VGT

Vanguard Information...

XLK

Technology Select Sector SPDR...

TLT

iShares 20+ Year Treasury...

VNQ

Vanguard Real Estate ETF

SMH

VanEck Semiconductor ETF

Loading Articles...
Our Sites
  • VettaFi
  • Advisor Perspectives
  • ETF Trends
Tools
  • ETF Screener
  • Mutual Fund to ETF Converter
  • Head-To-Head ETF Comparison
  • ETF Country Exposure Tool
  • ETF Stock Exposure Tool
  • ETF Database Pro
More Tools
  • Financial Advisor & RIA Center
Explore ETFs
  • ETF News
  • ETF Category Reports
  • Premium Articles
  • Alphabetical Listing of ETFs
  • Browse ETFs by ETF Database Category
  • Browse ETFs by Index
  • Browse ETFs by Issuer
  • Compare ETFs
Information
  • Contact Us
  • Terms of Use and Privacy Policy
  • © 2023 VettaFi LLC. All rights reserved.

Advertisement

Is Your Portfolio Positioned With Enough Global Exposure?

ETF Education Channel

How to Allocate Commodities in Portfolios

Tom LydonApr 26, 2022
2022-04-26

A long-running debate in asset allocation circles is how much of a portfolio an investor should...

Core Strategies Channel

Why ETFs Experience Limit Up/Down Protections

Karrie GordonMay 13, 2022
2022-05-13

In a digital age where information moves in milliseconds and millions of participants can transact...

}
X