The top 10 performing Betashares ETFs of 2025

The past year delivered a rare convergence of macro trends. Gold reached record highs, critical minerals surged, Asian tech stocks saw a re-rating and investors began seeing the results of a long-awaited rotation away and into high-quality small and mid-cap companies. 

Those shifts helped drive standout returns across a number of investment themes. But as with any performance recap, it’s important to remember that past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance, and that one-year results can be heavily influenced by short-term market conditions. In addition, the returns on many of the ETFs discussed in this article can be expected to be more volatile (i.e. vary up and down) compared to a broad global shares exposure, given their concentrated exposure. 

It’s also worth noting that many of the ETFs listed below are designed to play a satellite role within a diversified portfolio, rather than serve as core holdings. Betashares’ Product Disclosure Statements generally describe satellite exposures as forming a smaller proportion of a portfolio, alongside diversified core allocations, consistent with a core–satellite portfolio approach. 

Before making any investment decision, we recommend you consider the risks and other features of each ETF, as detailed in the applicable Target Market Determination and Product Disclosure Statement, available at www.betashares.com.au. This article may include opinions, views and other forward-looking statements which are subject to various uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially. You should therefore not place undue reliance on such statements. No assurance is given that any of the companies in an ETF’s portfolio will remain in the portfolio or will be profitable investments.  

As at 31 December 2025. Past performance is not indicative of future performance of any index or fund. All returns are quoted in Australian dollars using net asset value per unit at the start and end of the specified period and do not reflect brokerage or the bid ask spread that investors incur when buying and selling units on the ASX. Returns are after fund fees and costs and assume reinvestment of any distributions. Does not take into account any tax paid by the investor. Current performance may be lower or higher than the performance shown. 

*This fund has been operating for less than five years. This 5-year figure represents the return of the index that the fund seeks to track, net of fund fees and costs. You cannot invest directly in an index.  

All that glitters is gold? 

1 – Betashares Global Gold Miners Currency Hedged ETF (ASX: MNRS) | 1-yr return: 148.8% | 5-year return: 20.2% p.a. 

2 – Betashares Gold Bullion Currency Hedged ETF (ASX: QAU) | 1-yr return: 62.7% | 5-yr return: 15.5% p.a. 

• Heading into 2026, it is hard to ignore the substantial gains experienced by gold in recent years, with the structural and cyclical cases for the yellow metal having remained largely intact. 

• Central bank buying, particularly from emerging market countries diversifying reserves, remains structurally elevated. Since 2022, central bank net purchases have averaged over 1,000 tonnes per year – double the 500 tonnes averaged from 2011 to 2021¹. Recent data indicates 2025 ended with around 800 tonnes of buying, still heightened compared to pre-2022 but a reduction from the buying seen in recent years^.2

• Further US dollar weakness and declining US government bond yields, alongside heightened geopolitical tensions and looming government debt fears, may continue to provide cyclical support. 

Critical minerals deliver critical returns 

3 – Betashares Energy Transition Metals ETF (ASX: XMET) | 1-yr return: 96.3% | 5-yr index return (net of fund fees and costs, being 0.69% p.a.): 21.19% p.a. 

• In a very strong second half of the year for resources, critical minerals had some of the strongest returns as they sat in the crosshairs of geopolitical tensions and technological investment. Returns were led by copper’s 41% annual surge to record highs near US$13,000 per tonne and lithium’s 34% rally from October lows following major mine closures. 

• Within XMET’s portfolio of 30 global producers of copper, lithium, nickel, cobalt, graphite, manganese, silver and rare earth elements only two recorded negative returns during 2025 (Ivanhoe Mines and Lifezone Metals)³.  

• Nine companies in the portfolio had total returns over 100% in 2025: three lithium producers (Ganfeng, Tianqi, Liontown), two silver producers (Silvercorp, Endeavour), one recycler (Sibanye-Stillwater), one copper producer (Antofagasta), one rare earths producer (MP Materials) and one diversified precious metals producer (Buenaventura)⁴. 

Spending surge leads to banner year for defence equities 

4 – Betashares Global Defence ETF (ASX: ARMR) | 1-yr return: 47.9% | 5-yr index return (net of fund fees and costs, being 0.55% p.a.): 29.93% p.a. 

• Increasing geopolitical tension and uncertainty, regional conflicts and challenged strategic alliances have triggered a rapid and significant increase in global defence spending that could be set to continue for years to come. 

• Last year’s most notable news was NATO members’ pledge to increase defence spending to 5% of GDP over the next 10 years. 

• Returns were driven by defence companies across regions with Palantir (US), Rheinmetall (Germany), BAE Systems (UK), Safran (France), and RTX (US) making up the top 5 contributors to performance. 

Banking on a resilient economy 

5 – Betashares Global Banks Currency Hedged ETF (ASX: BNKS) | 1-yr return: 45.5% | 5-yr return: 20.1% p.a. 

• The combination of macroeconomic resilience, policy tailwinds, strong capital markets activity and operational improvements created a very favourable environment for global banks in 2025. Gains were broad across and within regions, with 58 of the 60 holdings in BNKS posting positive returns for the calendar year⁵. 

• US banks also returned significant capital to shareholders in 2025, including US$111 billion in buybacks. 2026 could see even stronger returns with buybacks forecast to increase to over US$150 billion alongside further dividend growth as regulatory clarity enables capital deployment⁶. 

A compelling complement to the Magnificent 7 

6 – Betashares Asia Technology Tigers ETF (ASX: ASIA) | 1-yr return: 43.7% | 5-yr return: 6.5% p.a. 

• Asian technology is another theme we covered heavily throughout 2025 with a constructive outlook piece at the start of the year. More recently, we made the case for the rally to continue after discussing Asia’s importance for AI investing.⁷ 

• Throughout 2025, Asian technology companies, particularly the large Chinese consumer facing technology companies like Alibaba and Tencent, have shown they have the potential to compete with their mega-cap US counterparts in delivering their own set of AI tools.  

• Further to this, a lot of the sector’s gains have come directly from the US’ own significant capital expenditure, with several Asian companies such as Taiwanese Semiconductor (TSMC) and SK Hynix being central to the global AI infrastructure rollout in 2025. 

The great rotation arrived 

7 – Betashares Australian Small Companies Select ETF (ASX: SMLL) | 1-yr return: 36.0% | 5-yr return: 8.4% p.a. 

• 2025 marked the first year since 2020 of small cap outperformance in the Australian market⁸. Following years of large cap earnings stability and pricing power during the higher-than-normal interest rate environment, 2025 gave way to a rate cutting cycle supporting mid and small caps. 

• Mid and small caps in Australia also reported much stronger earnings growth throughout 2025, further driving the performance turnaround⁹. Lower funding costs and easing input pressures helped to lift margins and free cash flow across these segments. 

• SMLL’s strong performance was driven primarily by the materials sector which, due to both having a higher overall weight and allocation to better performing companies, drove 7.2% of the overall 11% outperformance for the year¹⁰.  

Iron ore, copper and gold’s rallies propel local resources names 

8 – Betashares Australian Resources Sector ETF (ASX: QRE) | 1-yr return: 34.3% | 5-yr return: 11.6% p.a. 

• Given the strong representation of resources already covered in our top performers list, it should come as no surprise that our Australian resources sector ETF also made the list in 2025. 

• Holding the companies that make up the materials and energy sectors in the ASX 200, QRE posted strong returns from performance from the Materials names despite the lacklustre returns from the energy sector. 

• Iron ore rallied and has been holding above US$100 per tonne, supporting strong profitability for Australia’s large cap miners. 

• Copper demand was driven by the AI infrastructure buildout and energy transition, with BHP now the world’s largest producer deriving 45% of its earnings from copper – up from 29% a year ago¹¹. Rio Tinto is targeting 1 million tonnes of annual production by 2030, up from 620,000 tonnes in 2023¹². 

• Meanwhile, Australia’s gold exports grew 42% in FY24/25 and expectations are for a further 28% gain in 25/26. If such expectations were to be met, this trajectory would take the value of exports to $60 billion and would make gold Australia’s second largest export after iron ore¹³. 

Asia to drive the next phase of the uranium rally 

9 – Betashares Global Uranium ETF (ASX: URNM) | 1-yr return: 33.1% | 5-yr index return (net of fund fees and costs, being 0.69% p.a.): 30.3% p.a. 

• Nuclear energy has been at the centre of several major market narratives in recent years including decarbonisation, energy security, AI energy requirements and critical mineral importance amongst geopolitical tensions. 

• Recently, uranium was added to the list of critical minerals in the US, and the US Government announced an US$80 billion strategic partnership to build new reactors¹⁴. 

• URNM’s portfolio constituents had mixed returns in 2025 but the ten largest positions all recorded positive returns, with nine of the ten recording gains of over 25%¹⁵. 

No longer a niche investment opportunity? 

10 – Betashares Video Games and Esports ETF (ASX: GAME) | 1-yr return: 27.8% | 5-yr index return (net of fund fees and costs, being 0.57% p.a.): 7% p.a. 

• GAME featured as the top performing ETF for FY24/25 on the back of growing adoption and monetisation and some standout individual portfolio performers. 

• While still making the top performing list for 2025, the sector recently consolidated some of its strong returns during the broader market sell off in the final quarter. 

• However, it is worth reiterating from our note earlier in the year that gaming may no longer be a niche. It has become a foundational pillar of the digital economy with games evolving to represent social platforms, fitness, educational and productivity tools, creator-driven economies, and sources of high-quality advertising and data collection.  

Another year worthy of a king 

11 – Betashares Global Royalties ETF (ASX: ROYL) | 1-yr return: 25.8% | 5-yr index return (net of fund fees and costs, being 0.69% p.a.): 19.81% 

• ROYL is another ETF we covered throughout 2025, looking to highlight to investors the unique attributes of royalty companies that make them very compelling investments. 

• Selecting companies based on their business structure rather than a specific sector allowed ROYL to benefit from catalysts across investment themes.  

• In 2025, strong gains from materials and health care sectors royalty companies, with 26 out of the 27 in ROYL’s portfolio across these two sectors generating positive returns, led the ETF to be one of our top performing¹⁶. 

• ROYL also began paying out ‘smoothed’ monthly distributions in August 2025. These aim to reflect the average cash flow yield of its underlying companies over the preceding 12 months. 

Sources:

¹ World Gold Council. 6 January 2026.
² World Gold Council. 6 January 2026.
³ Bloomberg. As at 31 December 2025.
⁴ Bloomberg. As at 31 December 2025.
⁵ Bloomberg. As at 31 December 2025.
⁶ Morgan Stanley. As at 3 December 2025.
⁷ Bloomberg. Performance comparison of S&P/ASX 200 and S&P ASX Small Ordinaries indices.
⁸ Bloomberg. As at 31 December 2025.
⁹ Bloomberg. As at 31 December 2025.
¹⁰ BHP FY25 Financial Results
¹¹ Rio Tinto, fourth quarter 2023 production results (January 15, 2024) and 2024 Capital Markets Day presentation (December 9, 2024).
¹² Minerals Council of Australia. 10 October 2025.
¹³U.S. Department of the Interior, “Interior Department releases final 2025 List of Critical Minerals,” news release, November 6, 2025. Westinghouse Electric Company, “Strategic Partnership,” accessed January 13, 2026
¹⁴ Bloomberg. As at 31 December 2025.
¹⁵ Bloomberg. As at 31 December 2025.