5 Best Oil ETFs to Buy in 2023 The Motley Fool

Certain Zacks Rank stocks for which no month-end price was available, pricing information was not collected, or for certain other reasons have been excluded from these return calculations. These funds track a commodity-related equity index, consisting of a basket of oil and gas-related stocks. They do not invest in physical commodities and should not be expected to directly track the price performance of oil and gas commodities. Investors looking for exposure to the energy industry have several options to play the sector, so it’s important that they know what they’re doing and what returns and risks each ETF ultimately offers. For this reason, some investors stick to basic broadly diversified index funds, such as those based on the Standard & Poor’s 500 index, and leave the trading to the pros.

PSCE doesn’t only hold oil companies – 6% of its holdings are in Renewable Energy Group, for example. But it does offer exposure to lots of small-cap oil and gas companies, including SouthWestern Energy, Dril-Quip and Range Resources. Futures exchanges have strict rules about who can trade on them, so they’re off limits to most retail traders. In April 2020, futures traders sent the price of oil contracts briefly into the negative as they scrambled to sell before their contracts expired, which would have forced them to take ownership of thousands of barrels. ETCs, on the other hand, use a debt instrument underwritten by a bank to track the price of one or more commodities.

Year-to-date mutual fund returns are calculated on a monthly basis by Value Line and posted mid-month. Many brokers offer their own oil ETFs, so if you have a specific fund you want to invest in, that can guide your brokerage choice. The fund’s one-year returns are 74.66%, and the index it tracks is up 74.94% over the past year, as of Feb. 17, 2022. The fund’s one-year returns are 68.65%, and its benchmark index is up 69.42% over that same time, as of Feb. 17, 2022. Oil is one of the most important sources of energy in the world. It can be refined into gasoline and other fuels, and many other products, such as plastics, rely on oil.

Green energy and traditional energy often move in different directions, and indeed, ICLN ended 2022 down 5.4% while oil and gas were off to the races. But the decision by OPEC+ to cut output could spur further investment in cleaner technologies, setting energy ETFs like ICLN up for a more fruitful 2023. All of the best energy ETFs on this list have so far covered traditional energy – namely, oil and natural gas. But clean energy is another avenue for potential growth that investors shouldn’t ignore. West Texas Intermediate is the underlying commodity of the New York Mercantile Exchange’s oil futures contract and one of the main global oil benchmarks.

Examples of Oil ETF

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While it’s a more direct play on oil prices, it still won’t perfectly track WTI, and you won’t receive dividend income like you will with so many of the other energy ETFs on this list. It’s worth noting that in both the short- and long-term alike, U.S.-based energy stocks have outperformed their international peers. But if you’re looking to defray a little geographic risk, this is one of the best energy ETFs to do so while still printing a nice profit from higher global commodity prices. There are six distinct oil commodity ETFs that trade in the United States, excluding inverse and leveraged ETFs as well as funds with less than $50 million inassets under management . Oil prices, as measured by the Bloomberg Composite Crude Oil Subindex, have climbed 28% over the past 12 months, significantly outperforming the S&P 500 Index’s 14% drop, as of Nov. 18.

How to invest in oil and energy ETFs

Russia’s war with Ukraine, higher travel demand and other drivers sent U.S. crude oil prices from around $75 at the start of 2022 to multiple peaks above $120 across the year. An oil ETF is a type of fund that invests in companies involved in the oil and gas industry, including discovery, production, distribution, and retail. The top holdings of the first of these ETFs are futures contracts for Brent Crude oil, and the biggest holdings for the second and third are futures contracts for West Texas Intermediate sweet light crude oil. The oil industry can be extremely challenging for investors. Oil prices are notoriously volatile, often quickly changing on any whiff of imbalance between supply and demand.

Oil ETNs, or exchange-traded notes, are similar to oil ETFs in that they are both traded on securities exchanges and can be bought and sold throughout the trading day, similar to stocks. A major difference between ETFs and ETNs is that ETFs are investment companies registered by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, and ETFs actually own the underlying assets that you, as an investor, own a part of. ETNs do not own an underlying portfolio of assets, and instead are made up of unsecured debt obligations. ETNs are generally considered riskier investments than ETFs.

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Get exposure to a basket of commodities, or invest in a group of petroleum companies. As energy stocks rise, these three oil ETFs are an efficient way to play the rally. Other investors prefer the big dividends that are common among energy MLPs, which can often be more steady than other sub-sectors. But even there, the companies have major differences in business models that make them more volatile, so it’s important to know what you’re buying.

All these inverse ETFs are in the green, with WEBS having really outperformed with a 201.7% YTD return. With 110 stocks–albeit with significantly less AUM than XLE– VDE is much better diversified than XLE, though XOM and CVX still play outsized roles with weightings of 22.4% and 16.2%, respectively. Has remained true to this ethos by offering the lowest pricing in the sector. Our research team runs the industry’s toughest dividend screening test and only picks from the top 5%. Learn from industry thought leaders and expert market participants.

How to Allocate Commodities in Portfolios

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• Leveraged oil ETFs are designed to multiply the performance of an underlying index.
• But even there, the companies have major differences in business models that make them more volatile, so it’s important to know what you’re buying.
• This forward-looking metric is calculated based on a model, which is dependent upon multiple assumptions.
• For more information regarding a fund’s investment strategy, please see the fund’s prospectus.
• All the oil ETFs presented above are available in CAPEX WebTrader among other popular ETFs listed on 10 major stocks exchanges.

Zacks Rank stock-rating system returns are computed monthly based on the beginning of the month and end of the month Zacks Rank stock prices plus any dividends received during that particular month. A simple, equally-weighted average return of all Zacks Rank stocks is calculated to determine the monthly return. The monthly returns are then compounded to arrive at the annual return. Only Zacks Rank stocks included in Zacks hypothetical portfolios at the beginning of each month are included in the return calculations. Zacks Ranks stocks can, and often do, change throughout the month.

The funds should not be expected to provide two times or negative two times the return of the benchmark’s cumulative return for periods greater than a day. Seeks to track the daily percentage price changes of light, sweet oil delivered to Cushing, Oklahoma – better known as West Texas Intermediate, or WTI. Here are three that have shown particular strength as oil prices have soared. Finally, it’s worth noting that larger ETFs tend to charge lower expense ratios, because they can spread the costs of running the fund across more assets.

The metrics do not change the fund’s investment objective or constrain the fund’s investable universe, and there is no indication that a sustainable, impact or ESG investment strategy will be adopted by the fund. For more information regarding the fund’s investment strategy, please see the fund’s prospectus. The looming EU restriction on Russian oil products could boost energy prices all over again.

Our estimates are based on past market performance, and past performance is not a guarantee of future performance. The United States Oil Fund seeks to track the daily percentage price changes of light, sweet oil delivered to Cushing, Oklahoma – better known as West Texas Intermediate, or WTI. Like any financial asset, oil markets are driven by supply and demand. If supply rises without a drop in demand, oil’s price will fall.

It previously only invested in «front-month» futures, forcing it to constantly sell contracts about to expire and replace them with futures expiring in the next month – which resulted in disastrous results during 2020’s oil plunge. Subsequent changes allowed it a little more flexibility to invest in longer-dated contracts. The fund uses a market weight strategy, so it’s highly concentrated at the top, with two of the world’s largest integrated energy companies by market cap making up more than 40% of the fund’s total holdings.

Oil ETFs offer a way to invest in oil without buying and selling futures. As the name suggests, this ETF holds oil and gas companies specifically focused on exploration and production. It counts ConocoPhillips , Marathon Petroleum and EOG Resources among its 10 largest holdings . Since November 2020 the IEO has quadrupled from 25 to 100, and pushed above its pre-pandemic high of 77.

One drawback of the ETF is its relatively higher expense ratio of 0.87%. However, the cost can be worth it because it lets investors own a basket of income-producing energy companies with a single investment. They tend to earn steadier cash flow than oil and gas producers, enabling them to pay high-yielding dividends. In late 2022, the ETF offered a dividend yield approaching 8%, making it ideal for investors seeking to generate passive income from the oil market. Meanwhile, individual oil companies face their own set of issues. Inferior resource quality, too much debt, ill-timed acquisitions, aggressive spending, and poor capital allocation strategies can all cause an oil company’s stock price to underperform oil prices and its peers.

If you’re less willing to handle volatility, or simply prefer to avoid fossil fuels because of their negative impact on the environment, you’ll likely be better off with other https://forex-world.net/s. If you can deal with volatility, investing in an oil ETF might be a suitable option. XLE’s top holdings are Chevron Corp, ExxonMobil, and ConocoPhillips, three of the biggest US petroleum companies.

It’s also important to know why you’re buying into energy companies. For example, you may buy an energy ETF to help offset the effect of rising oil prices on your other investments. Or do you expect the investment in an energy ETF to always make a return on your investment? Bankrate.com is an independent, advertising-supported publisher and comparison service. We are compensated in exchange for placement of sponsored products and, services, or by you clicking on certain links posted on our site. Therefore, this compensation may impact how, where and in what order products appear within listing categories, except where prohibited by law for our mortgage, home equity and other home lending products.

The official breakdown is U.S. 60%/rest of world 40%, with the U.K. (12%), Canada (11%) and France (5%) representing the top non-American country weights. The Fidelity Best oil etf ETF’s fee difference versus XLE isn’t massive either, at a mere 2 basis points. But you’re ultimately getting a wider swath of stocks for less, which makes FENY worthy of consideration. Compare that to a negative total return for the S&P 500 and nine of its sectors, and low-single-digit gains for the remaining one, and it’s not even close. Get stock recommendations, portfolio guidance, and more from The Motley Fool’s premium services.

However, it still offers fairly broad exposure to the entire energy sector, with its top 10 holdings featuring several refinery stocks and a large oilfield services company. The industry also faces geopolitical headwinds from OPEC, the cartel of large oil-producing nations that can significantly influence oil prices by changing production quotas. Add in climate change concerns, and you can see that investments in the oil industry aren’t for the faint of heart.