Korea, semiconductors and crypto whiplash

Sydney, 3 August 2026: InvestSMART, a leading investment platform, has released its 2026 ETF Scorecard, revealing Australia's best and worst-performing exchange traded funds over the year to 30 June 2026. 

The report comes as Australia's ETF market continues to grow rapidly, reaching $361.6 billion at 30 June 2026, up 32.8% over 12 months, with 458 ETFs now listed on the ASX. 

InvestSMART Group CEO Ron Hodge said the 2026 results showed the strengths and risks of a market that is giving investors more choice than ever. 

"Investors no longer have an access problem. They have a selection problem," Mr Hodge said. 

"The challenge is knowing which funds improve a portfolio and which simply add overlap, cost or complexity." 

Now in its third year, the Scorecard ranks ASX-listed ETFs by performance and fund flows, includes InvestSMART's five-star rating system, and this year adds last year's ranking where relevant, making it easier to see how quickly the leaderboard can change. 

"One of the clearest lessons from this year's Scorecard is that performance can turn fast," Mr Hodge said. 

"A top ranking one year can mean very little the next, which is why investors need to look beyond one-year returns." 

Best performers: Korea and chip ETFs soar on AI demand 

The top performers were heavily influenced by artificial intelligence and the semiconductor supply chain. 

The iShares MSCI South Korea ETF (ASX: IKO) was the year's best-performing ETF, returning 170.8%. It was followed by the Global X Semiconductor ETF (ASX: SEMI), up 160.8%, and the Global X Hydrogen ETF (ASX: HGEN), up 135.2%. 

Other strong performers included the Betashares Asia Technology Tigers ETF (ASX: ASIA), up 95.6%, and the Betashares Energy Transition Metals ETF (ASX: XMET), up 83.0%. 

None of the 2026 top 10 performers appeared in the top 25 last year, and eight of the 10 did not make the top 150 in the 2025 Scorecard. 

"Returns of 170.8% deserve attention, but they should also make investors pause before piling in," Mr Hodge said. 

"Some of this year's strongest performers were tied to very specific parts of the market. When those areas are in favour, the returns can be spectacular, but they can be equally devastating on the way down." 

Worst performers: Bitcoin dives from first to last 

The biggest reversal in the 2026 Scorecard came from crypto ETFs. 

The DigitalX Bitcoin ETF (ASX: BTXX) was the best-performing ETF in last year's Scorecard, returning 95.5%. This year it was the worst performer, falling 48.4%. 

Other crypto ETFs also appeared near the bottom of the list. The Betashares Bitcoin ETF (ASX: QBTC) fell 48.2%, the VanEck Bitcoin ETF (ASX: VBTC), which was the third best performing ETF in 2025, fell 48.0%, and the Betashares Ethereum ETF (ASX: QETH) fell 40.0%. 

"Crypto ETFs faced a much tougher year as investor appetite moved from more speculative parts of the market, and regulatory uncertainty weighed on digital assets," Mr Hodge said. 

"Highly volatile assets like crypto can produce very large moves in both directions. Anyone investing in these types of ETFs needs to understand the risks and be prepared for swings." 

Most popular: Vanguard remains a dominant force 

Vanguard took out the top two spots in this year's most popular table, and six of the top 10. The Vanguard MSCI Index International Shares ETF (ASX: VGS) and Vanguard Australian Shares Index ETF (ASX: VAS) attracted combined net inflows of more than $7.6 billion. 

Vanguard's scale was clear, with $103 billion in ETF assets on the ASX, around 28% of the market, spread across just 36 ETFs. 

The top 10 ETFs by net inflows attracted $21.4 billion. All 10 were passive ETFs, and eight of the 10 were broad Australian or global share ETFs. 

"The performance tables grab attention, but the flow data shows how most investors actually behave," Mr Hodge said. 

"Most of the money still went into broad, low-cost Australian and global share ETFs. That suggests investors are using ETFs in a very practical way: to build diversified portfolios, not just chase the latest hot theme." 

Hedged ETFs had the edge 

Currency hedging was another notable theme in the 2026 Scorecard. Across 11 matched hedged and unhedged ETF pairs, hedged versions returned an average of 13.2%, compared with 7.0% for unhedged versions, a gap of 6.2 percentage points. 

"As global ETFs become a bigger part of Australian investors' portfolios, currency is something they will need to pay more attention to, given the impact it can have on returns," Mr Hodge said. 

Category best performers 

2025 position is shown only where an ETF appeared in the top five best or worst performers list in that particular category. B = best performers list, W = worst performers list, and the number shows its position. NA means the ETF did not appear in either 2025 top-five list. Some ETFs may appear in more than one category. 

A full version of the report can be found here: https://www.investsmart.com.au/etf-report 

Media contact: Lauren Franze | l.franze@investsmart.com.au 

Source: InvestSMART 2026 ETF Scorecard. Performance figures and fund-flow data are based on InvestSMART analysis of ASX investment products data for the year to 30 June 2026.  

Fund performance and flows reflect reported net inflows/outflows in the ASX dataset. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance. This information is general in nature and does not take into account any person's objectives, financial situation or needs.