Here's how the BetaShares Cybersecurity ETF (ASX:HACK) beat the ASX 200 in 2021

This ETF doubled the ASX 200 last year…

Sebastian Bowen

Author Bio Sebastian Bowen has been a Motley Fool contributor since late 2018. Sebastian found his passion for writing and educating others about shares and all things finance after completing his studies in political, economic and social science and enjoys bringing this passion to life at the Fool. His investment philosophy is a simple one – buying high-quality companies at prices that make sense. When he’s not researching his next investment at all hours of the morning, Sebastian enjoys classic movies and likes to unwind with a good book, newspaper or record. Areas of Expertise Dividend investing ETFs Education Bachelor of Political, Economic, and Social Sciences (Government and International Relations), University of Sydney Social Media X/Twitter Favorite Investment Quote "In the short run, the market is a voting machine, but in the long run, it is a weighing machine." – Benjamin Graham

Published January 6, 2022 5:07 pm AEDT

It might be easy to forget after today's dramatic sell-off, but in 2021, ASX shares and the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) had a pretty strong year. The ASX 200 ended up gaining a solid 13% or so for the calendar year, not including dividend returns. But the BetaShares Global Cybersecurity ETF (ASX: HACK) made that look pretty paltry by comparison.

HACK units had a stellar year, no way about it. This exchange-traded fund (ETF) started the year at $8.82 but finished up last week at $10.86. That's a capital gain of just over 23%. But if we factor in the BetaShares Global Cybersecurity ETF's dividend distributions, and the returns get even better. According to the provider, HACK's total 2021 returns came to roughly 26.6%.

So how did the BetaShares Cybersecurity ETF manage to double the returns of the ASX 200?

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One HACK of a year for BetaShares Global Cybersecurity ETF

It would have helped that this ETF doesn't invest in any ASX 200 shares. Or any Australian shares for that matter.

HACK holds a concentrated basket of companies that are judged to be world leaders in cybersecurity. Currently, 91.9% of those are US-listed companies, but there is a small presence from Israel, Japan, France, and India.

As of yesterday, its top 5 holdings were:

Accenture Plc (NYSE: ACN) with a portfolio weighting of 6.9%
Cisco Systems Inc (NASDAQ: CSCO) with a weighting of 6.8%
Palo Alto Networks Inc (NYSE: PANW) with a weighting of 5.9%
Crowdstrike Holdings Inc (NASDAQ: CRWD) with a weighting of 5.3%
Cloudflare Inc (NYSE: NET) with a weighting of 3.7%

During 2021, Accenture shares rose by a very rewarding 58.7%.

Cisco shares were up 41.6%, while Palo Alto managed a 56.66% rise.

An outlier, Crowdstrike went backwards over the year that was, falling by 3.34%.

But Cloudflare went on to record a very pleasing 73.3% gain for 2021.

With such robust performances from HACK's top 5 holdings, it's perhaps no surprise this ETF enjoyed such a successful year.

But BetaShares Global Cybersecurity ETF investors might be used to this by now. After all, this is a fund that has averaged a return of 30.51% per annum over the past 3 years. And 22.4% per annum over the past 5.

As we begin 2022, it will be interesting to see how HACK performs over the year to come.

The BetaShares Global Cybersecurity ETF charges a management fee of 0.67% per annum, or $67 for every $10,000 invested.

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