Compare the best ETFs to buy in 2023

An exchange-traded fund is a great way to create a ready made portfolio and trade your favourite sector or companies. This guide picks out the best ETFs available to trade today.
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Updated: Oct 11, 2022
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Here our experts choose their favourite ETFs from a range of sectors, including the world’s most popular businesses. Find out their top five ‘exchange-traded fund’ picks and learn about where to get them.

What are the top ETFs to buy?

You can find the best ETFs in the table below. These have been chosen by our financial experts and you can find the latest price information for each one by following the links. Alternatively, scroll down for a description of the five ETFs and an explanation for why they were chosen.

#ETF tickerETF nameWhere to Trade
1ARKKArk Innovation ETF
Buy ARKK

77% of retail CFD accounts lose money.

2XLFFinancial Select Sector SPDR Fund
Buy XLF

77% of retail CFD accounts lose money.

3ICLNiShares Global Clean Energy ETF
Buy ICLN

77% of retail CFD accounts lose money.

4BTCCPurpose Bitcoin ETF
Buy BTCC

77% of retail CFD accounts lose money.

5IBBiShares Biotechnology ETF
Buy IBB

77% of retail CFD accounts lose money.

List chosen by our team of analysts, July 20th, 2022

1. Ark Innovation ETF (NYSEARCA: ARKK)

The ARKK fund invests in high growth, disruptive companies with unique technology. It’s managed by Cathie Wood, the Ark Invest CEO, who’s known for her bold stock picks, and has been trading since 2014.

The innovation fund is an actively managed ETF, which means that the manager has wide scope to decide on which companies it owns. That makes it more like a mutual fund than a traditional, passive ETF, but the results speak for themselves: its shares began trading at $20 and now go for well over $100 each.

It’s rare to find an ETF with the potential to grow in price so quickly. ARKK’s holdings include the likes of Tesla, Zoom, Spotify, and Coinbase, to give you an idea of the sort of companies you can get your hands on. As the tech sector grows, ARKK is likely to go along with it.

77% of retail CFD accounts lose money.

2. Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSEARCA: XLF)

This fund tracks the performance of the financial sector by owning some of the biggest banks and financial institutions in the world. It only owns stocks that are part of the S&P 500 Index and weights its holdings by market capitalisation.

The XLF fund has been trading for more than 20 years and has tended to be a haven of steady growth over time. However, its reliance on the financial sector makes it cyclical and vulnerable to economic shocks.

A financial ETF like this is ideal for a market that you expect to keep on growing. The leading Wall Street banks make up some of its biggest holdings, and a positive environment along with any increase in interest rates would be great for those companies’ profitability.

77% of retail CFD accounts lose money.

3. iShares Global Clean Energy ETF (NASDAQ: ICLN)

The iShares ETF prioritises companies that are involved in the production of renewable energy. That means it’s the best fund if you want to gain exposure to solar, wind, or hydropower. 

This is a relatively new ETF, having only been created in 2019. That means its previous history has been a bit erratic and it’s still hovering around the price that it started out at. To some extent, that reflects the overall volatility of renewable energy stocks, which are popular but fragile.

With such a strong focus on renewables, this is a great ETF to own if you believe in the future of the industry and want a way to own all of the most important stocks in one place. It saves you from having to try to work out which one is best and offers a way to invest in the sector as a whole.

77% of retail CFD accounts lose money.

4. Purpose Bitcoin ETF (TSE: BTCC)

The world’s first Bitcoin ETF, the Purpose fund gives you the chance to own cryptocurrency as part of your portfolio. It was created in 2021 and owns just one asset: Bitcoin. That means the fund is completely reliant on how it performs.

Over the course of its short life so far, that fact has been borne out quite dramatically. The fund was set up as Bitcoin was close to an all-time high and so the price of the fund’s shares have been on a rollercoaster ride since then.

The idea of an ETF, though, is to invest your money for the long term. As one of the best cryptocurrency ETFs available, it’s one of the only ways to add crypto to your portfolio through regular stock market channels. If you believe in the future of the market as a whole then it could have huge growth potential.

77% of retail CFD accounts lose money.

5. iShares Biotechnology ETF (NASDAQ: IBB)

The second iShares fund on this list, the Biotech ETF is another route into owning a portfolio of modern companies. In this case, it owns shares in a wide range of medical, pharmaceutical, and scientific companies.

The fund has been going for two decades and it has done consistently well over that time. The last five years have been particularly good as some of the companies it owns have started to see success.

The most notable is Moderna, the fund’s biggest holding, and one of the biggest winners of the coronavirus pandemic. That gives an insight into the potential of this ETF, which marries the potential for growth of some of the most hyped biotech companies with more traditional, steady pharma businesses, like Johnson & Johnson.

77% of retail CFD accounts lose money.

Where to buy the best ETFs

You can get all these ETFs straight away by going to one of the broker platforms below. You can use the links in the table to go to their website and sign up, or read through our in-depth reviews to compare their features.

1
Min. Deposit
$ 10
Best offer
User Score
10
Up to $240 bonus!
Deposit with ACA, Wire, Pay with my bank
Invest for dividends and get payout on stocks on Ex-Dividend day
Start Trading
Payment Methods:
Bank Transfer, Credit Card, Debit Card, PayPal, Wire Transfer
Full Regulations:
CySEC, FCA

77% of retail CFD accounts lose money.

2
Min. Deposit
$ 0
Best offer
User Score
10
Get insights from millions of investors, creators, and analysts
Build your portfolio of stocks, ETFs, and crypto–all in one place
No minimum deposit
Start Trading
Payment Methods:
Bank Wire, Check, Debit Card, Wire Transfer
Full Regulations:
Cryptocurrency execution and custody services are provided by Apex Crypto LLC (NMLS ID 1828849) through a software licensing agreement between Apex Crypto LLC and Public Crypto LLC. Crypto trading on Public platforms is served by Public Crypto LLC and offered through APEX Crypto. Please ensure that you fully understand the risks involved before trading.
3
Min. Deposit
$ 100
Best offer
User Score
7.5
Trade out-of-hours on over 70+ US stocks
Get exposure to a wide range of popular UK, US and international stocks
Enjoy flexible access to more than 17,000 global markets, with reliable execution
Start Trading
Payment Methods:
Bank Transfer, Credit Card, Debit Card, PayPal
Full Regulations:
ASIC, FCA, FINMA, is a licensed bank (IG Bank in Switzerland)
Spread bets and CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 75% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading spread bets and CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how spread bets and CFDs work, and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.

What is an ETF?

It’s a type of financial security that tracks the performance of an index, market, or another type of asset. ETFs trade on the stock exchange so that you can buy or sell them at any time during the day.

An ETF generally holds a range of different stocks. It’s often a good way to create an instant portfolio of your own without having to assess the qualities of individual companies. Similarly, it can give you exposure to stocks that you might not be able to afford on their own.

Are ETFs a good investment?

It depends on your overall goals. ETFs are ideal for beginners because they’re so easy to use and take away the pressure of having to make the right call on which stocks to own. They might not be the best choice if you want to actively manage your portfolio or make lots of short term trades.

Another factor to consider is the company that manages the ETF and the fees it charges. The likes of Vanguard and Blackrock have been at the top of the money-management field for a long time. Similarly, you should expect to pay low maintenance fees for an ETF, in particular if it’s a passive fund that simply tracks an index or sector.

AThe best way to stay informed about which ETFs might be best is to track the latest ETF news. You can follow what’s going on in the stock market by using the links below, or head straight to a broker in order to get an ETF right now.

Latest ETF news

The SPDR S&P Dividend ETF (SDY) stock has come under pressure in the past few months as concerns about the US markets continue. The shares have crashed to the lowest level since March 27th as it retreated by almost 10% from the highest point this year. Dividend aristocrats in trouble…
The iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX) and VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH) stock prices will be in the spotlight after the latest Nvidia earnings. The two ETFs have jumped by more than 45% from the lowest level in November last year.  Semiconductor sector is recovering One of the big stories in the…
The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) ETF is hovering near the highest point since August last year despite the rising risks in the market. The SPY stock was trading at $420, which was 21% above the lowest level in 2021. Similarly, Invesco QQQ and Dow Jones ETF have also…
The total value of assets under management (AUM) for crypto exchange-traded products (ETPs) increased by 67% in the first three months of 2023, according to the latest report detailing the statistics. The report was released on Wednesday, 12 April by Fineqia International Inc. (CSE: FNQ), a publicly-traded company that…
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James Knight
Editor of Education
James is a lead content editor for Invezz. He's an avid trader and golfer, who spends an inordinate amount of time watching Leicester City and the… read more.