The S&P 500 SPY ETF rallied 6.83% in the month of July. Below is a table highlighting the performance of key ETFs across all asset classes in July (as well as YTD and over the last week). Interestingly, largecaps here in the US outperformed smallcaps, which usually isn't the case during rallies. Growth and value both performed about the same, while Materials, Industrials, and Energy were the best performing sectors. Globally, Italy (EWI) did the best in July with a gain of 18%. France (EWQ) and the UK (EWU) came in second and third with gains of 14.5%. India (INP), Japan (EWJ), and China (FXI) were up the least during the month.

Looking at commodities, oil and natural gas were up while gold and silver were down. The aggregate bond market ETF (AGG) was up 0.56% for the month, while long-term Treasuries (TLT) and TIPS (TIP) were down. And with the dollar down, the British Pound (FXB) was up 4.95%, the Euro (FXE) was up 6.57%, and the Yen (FXY) was up 2.24%.

ETFs have become increasingly popular as part of taxable or self-directed IRA portfolios, and a flurry of new commission-free ETFs will only accelerate their adoption. There is another less visible but significant move to make ETFs a staple in traditional company sponsored retirement plans such as the 2.7 trillion 401(k) sector.

iShares (recently acquired by BlackRock) established iShares401k.com to promote ETFs within the 401(k) industry. Two vendors -- AdvisorETF401k and Ascensus -- have signed up to provide iShares ETFs for 401(k) plans.

By Paul Justice

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