2022 was a rather rough year for ASX shares and the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO). Over the year just passed, the ASX 200 fell by a depressing 5.5%, ensuring that any ASX exchange-traded fund (ETF) tracking the ASX 200 Index would have fallen by a similar amount
But that doesn't mean all ASX ETFs had a rough year. So let's check out the three best-performing ETFs from last year. Just to be clear, we'll go off the change in unit prices alone over the year here.
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The top 3 ASX ETFs of 2022 revealed
BetaShares U.S. Equities Strong Bear Fund (ASX: BBUS)
First up is this inverse ETF from BetaSahres. Inverse ETFs are designed to rise in value when the value of the index they track falls. In the Strong Bear Fund's case, the returns are also leveraged. This means that a 1% fall in the US market will generally give this ETF a boost of between 2% and 2.75%.
The US markets had an even worse year than the ASX 200 in 2022, with the S&P 500 Index (SP: .INX) falling by more than 19%. So it's perhaps no surprise that this ETF had a cracking year.
Strong Bear Fund units started 2022 at $8.22, but finished up at $10.82, meaning investors enjoyed a total capital gain of 31.63% for the year.
BetaShares Global Energy Companies ETF (ASX: FUEL)
Another fund from BetaShares, this one is a little different. The Global Energy Companies ETF is not an inverse or leveraged fund. It simply tracks a basket of global energy giants operating in the oil and gas industries. These include well-known names like Exxon Mobil, Shell, BP and Chevron.
2022 saw oil and gas prices skyrocket thanks to a potent mix of geopolitical and economic challenges. This resulted in a very pleasing year for these kinds of companies.
We can see this reflected in the Global Energy Companies ETF's unit price. This ETF started last year at a price of $4.69 but finished up at $6.46. That's a gain worth 37.74%.
Global X Ultra Short Nasdaq 100 Hedge Fund (ASX: SNAS)
Our final and best-performing ETF of 2022 is another inverse, leveraged fund. The Global X Ultra Short Nasdaq 100 Hedge Fund is designed to move in the opposite direction to the US NASDAQ-100 Index (NASDAQ: NDX).
The Nasdaq 100 is an index that reflects 100 of the largest companies on the tech-heavy NASDAQ exchange over in the US.
The Nasdaq 100 had a horrible 2022, falling by almost 33% last year. That's a perfect storm for a cracking year for this ETF. The Ultra Short Nasdaq Fund started 2022 off at $3.04 per unit but ended the year at $5.53. That's a gain worth a stellar 81.9%.
