Hamish Mills
9 minutes reading time
Financial adviser use only. Not for distribution to retail clients.
Welcome to Betashares Best & Worst for April 2025, bringing you insights into our top and bottom performing funds for the month, as well as one spotlight fund.
Key events in April 2025:
- Markets were once again at the mercy of Donald Trump’s tariff announcements.
- ‘Liberation Day’ came on 2nd April, with Trump announcing higher than anticipated global tariffs, resulting in an average 20% increase in U.S. tariffs.
- Markets initially sold off due to fears of the impact on global growth but began to recover later in the month with hopes of trade deals and reduced tariff rates. Critically, a potential reduction to the 145% tariff on China was hinted at (but not confirmed).
|
Spotlight (%) |
1 Month |
3 Month |
6 Month |
1 Year |
3 Year (p.a.) |
5 Year (p.a.) |
Since Inception** |
Inception Date |
|
HNDQ |
1.38 |
-8.97 |
-1.70 |
11.14 |
12.85 |
– |
10.87 |
20/07/2020 |
|
Benchmarks |
||||||||
|
ASX 200 |
-3.79 |
-2.56 |
2.77 |
9.94 |
9.24 |
8.87 |
– |
– |
|
S&P 500 |
-1.00 |
3.74 |
15.77 |
23.99 |
18.50 |
17.70 |
– |
– |
|
MSCI World |
-0.36 |
5.01 |
14.24 |
21.30 |
16.15 |
14.85 |
– |
– |
|
AusBond Comp |
0.93 |
1.63 |
1.16 |
4.18 |
0.32 |
-0.59 |
– |
– |
Source: Morningstar, Bloomberg. As at 30 April 2025. Past performance is not an indicator of future performance of any index or fund. All performance figures quoted in AUD.
Spotlight:
The majority of Australian investors hold unhedged international equity ETFs, leaving them exposed to adverse moves in exchange rates. Looking specifically at the Betashares Nasdaq 100 ETF, only around 9% of existing investors in the fund use the currency hedged version, HNDQ.
Being unhedged has generally favoured investors in U.S. equities for 14 years, with the AUD/USD falling by over 40% since its peak in 2011. However, the USD Index (the value of the USD relative to other major currencies) which has historically driven the AUD/USD rate has fallen by a significant 8.31% in 2025 (to 30th April). The AUD/USD has experienced a more modest move, gaining 3.46%1, suggesting there is room to rise further to resynchronise with the broad USD weakness.
There are also strong arguments to suggest the trend of USD weakness will continue.
Firstly, confidence in US safe-haven assets is on rocky ground due to drastic and ever-changing policy under Trump. Second, anticipated rate cuts by the Federal Reserve while inflation remains sticky would lead to a fall in real U.S. yields, further decreasing the attractiveness of the USD. Third, Australia remains an appealing option for foreign investors, with low Government debt, a positive trade balance and a well-positioned commodities industry.
If this holds true and there is a long-term reversion of the AUD/USD, hedging international equities will help prevent erosion of investor returns from US equities. The Nasdaq 100 in April was a prime example – the unhedged fund (NDQ) finished the month at -1.14%, while investors in the currency hedged HNDQ saw positive returns of 1.38%.
|
Best* (%) |
1 Month |
3 Month |
6 Month |
1 Year |
3 Year (p.a.) |
5 Year (p.a.) |
Since Inception** |
Fund Inception Date |
|
CRYP |
11.86 |
-24.75 |
-1.75 |
27.43 |
8.13 |
– |
-17.55 |
2/11/2021 |
|
QBTC |
11.15 |
– |
– |
– |
– |
– |
-0.82 |
18/02/2025 |
|
ARMR |
6.83 |
18.96 |
34.77 |
– |
– |
– |
40.07 |
2/10/2024 |
Source: Morningstar, Bloomberg. As at 30 April 2025. Past performance is not an indicator of future performance of any index or fund. All performance figures quoted in AUD.
Best:
Recent volatility has made it rather predictable for digital assets to feature in either the best or worst each month. After a torrid start to 2025, falling a total of 23% in February and March following Trump’s inauguration, crypto rallied in April. Betashares Crypto Innovators ETF (CRYP) which holds up to 50 of the largest companies involved in servicing crypto markets returned 11.86% while Betashares Bitcoin ETF (QBTC) which aims to track the price of Bitcoin (before fees and expenses) gained 11.15% for the month.
The majority of the gains in both funds can be attributed to a revival in broader market confidence towards the back end of April, with Donald Trump suggesting a “substantially” reduced tariff on China2. CRYP and QBTC both saw outsized gains compared to the broad market (MSCI World Index) following the announcement, returning 8.09% and 7.34% on 22 April.
Looking into CRYP’s returns, Galaxy Digital Holdings – the fund’s second largest holding was the top performing stock in April, contributing 4.06%. Galaxy is a financial services and investment management company dedicated to the digital assets and blockchain technology industry. Currently listed in Toronto and registered in the Cayman Islands, Galaxy plans to launch on the Nasdaq later this year, despite several peers choosing to delay their listing due to market volatility.3
The launch of ARMR was timely with the fund having brought positive returns each month since its inception last year and since inception on the 2 October 2024, ARMR has returned 35% making it one of the best-performing Australian ETFs over the period. April was a poor month for global (particularly US) equities as a result of the higher-than-expected Liberation Day Tariffs, ARMR dodged the proverbial bullet, only falling by -1.54% after the announcement (compared to -4.77% for the MSCI World NR Index)4.
Despite the US Department of Government Efficiency (“DOGE”) implementing severe cuts across the public sector, this has been predominantly targeted at education, housing and healthcare. Defence and homeland security on the other hand are a priority for Trump, with the Administration promising a 13% boost to discretionary defence spending.5
As well as defence being shielded from domestic spending cuts, many of the US based companies including Palantir and Lockheed Martin have significant contracts outside of just America, diversifying their revenue base. Palantir recently sealed a partnership with NATO for the Palantir Maven Smart System NATO (MSS NATO) to be employed within NATO’s Allied Command Operations6. Palantir finished as April’s top performer, contributing 2.91% to returns.
|
Worst* (%) |
1 Month |
3 Month |
6 Month |
1 Year |
3 Year (p.a.) |
5 Year (p.a.) |
Since Inception** |
Fund Inception Date |
|
OOO |
-17.87 |
-18.01 |
-11.83 |
-19.82 |
-9.96 |
23.63 |
-12.46 |
11/11/2011 |
|
FUEL |
-11.29 |
-7.00 |
-5.73 |
-10.45 |
3.32 |
14.29 |
4.71 |
16/06/2016 |
|
XMET |
-5.64 |
-5.22 |
-12.10 |
-11.30 |
– |
– |
-3.20 |
26/10/2022 |
Source: Morningstar, Bloomberg. As at 30 April 2025. Past performance is not an indicator of future performance of any index or fund. All performance figures quoted in AUD.
Worst:
April was OOO’s worst month since 2021, with both demand and supply-side factors putting downward pressure on oil prices.
The Liberation Day tariff announcement caused global oil demand growth estimates to fall by close to 30% for 2025, down to 730k barrels per day (kb/d), with a further fall expected in 2026 to 690kb/d 7. WTI crude oil futures fell by 13.6% in the two days from 2-4th April.8
Compounding this, OPEC+ tripled their scheduled production increases for May, extinguishing any chance of a rebound later in April with easing trade tensions. All-in, oil futures fell to USD 58.21 by the end of April, an 18.56% fall.
Reduced growth estimates and lower oil prices subsequently impacted the energy companies held by FUEL, with many of the largest players falling by over 10% while Chevron’s share price fell by over 20%.9
Looking forward, prices will be subject to the success of trade negotiations, particularly between the US and China – something that is looking more promising of late, but feels unlikely to be resolved without further turbulence.
It wasn’t just oil that suffered in April – commodities more broadly, with the exclusion of gold, fell sharply in reaction to the Liberation Day tariffs. The two highest exposures in XMET – copper and lithium – fell by 9.20% and 8.18% for the month10, causing share prices of the producers to deteriorate. The world’s largest lithium producer, Sociedad Quimica Y Minera De Chile (SQM) was the second highest detractor from XMET’s returns at -0.84%11.
Silver is the third largest exposure in XMET. Similarly to gold, the metal is often viewed as a safe haven asset. However, unlike gold, silver’s use in industry (including solar panel manufacturing) still ties its price to economic growth forecasts, which can become the dominant factor in highly stressed markets. Silver prices fell by 4.18%12, while the gold/silver ratio finished the month at over 100. This ratio has historically peaked in recessions, and the only other time in history it has surpassed this level was during Covid13. Endeavour Silver Corp was the largest detractor for XMET’s returns, detracting 0.90%14.
*Excludes short and geared funds, aside from currency.**Annualised for funds with more than 1 year’s performance history.
Sources:
1. Bloomberg
2. The Guardian
3. DL News
4. Morningstar Direct
5. Reuters
6. NATO
7. IEA
9. Morningstar Direct
11. Morningstar Direct
13. Macrotrends
14. Morningstar Direct
Investing involves risk. The value of an investment and income distributions can go down as well as up. Before making an investment decision you should consider the relevant Product Disclosure Statement and Target Market Determination (available at www.betashares.com.au) and your client’s particular circumstances, including their tolerance for risk, and obtain financial advice.
An investment in CRYP should be considered very high risk. CRYP provides focused exposure to companies involved in servicing crypto-asset markets or which have material investments in crypto-assets. Crypto-assets are highly speculative in nature and companies with significant exposure to crypto-asset markets can be expected to have a very high level of return volatility. An investment in CRYP should only be made by investors who fully understand the features and risks of such companies or after consulting a professional financial adviser, and who have a very high tolerance for risk and the capacity to absorb a rapid loss of some of their investment. CRYP will not invest in crypto assets directly, and will not track price movements of any crypto assets. For more information on risks and other features of CRYP, please see the Target Market Determination (TMD) and Product Disclosure Statement, available at www.betashares.com.au.
An investment in QBTC should be considered extremely high risk and should only be considered by informed investors seeking a very small allocation (5% or less) to an extremely high volatility investment. Bitcoin is subject to certain risks not associated with traditional asset classes such as equities. It is supported by new technologies and traded and valued in largely unregulated markets. Bitcoin is not backed by any government or central bank and could have little or no value in the future. There are risks associated with an investment in QBTC including volatility risk, digital asset price risk, currency risk, political, legal and regulatory risk, immutability risk and digital asset custody risk. An investment in the QBTC is not suitable for all investors and should only be made by investors who fully understand the features and risks of Bitcoin or after consulting a professional financial adviser, and who have an extremely high tolerance for risk and the capacity to absorb a rapid loss of some or all of their investment.
Future results are inherently uncertain. This information may include opinions, views, estimates and other forward-looking statements which are, by their very nature, subject to various risks and uncertainties. Actual events or results may differ materially, positively or negatively, from those reflected or contemplated in such forward-looking statements. To the extent permitted by law Betashares accepts no liability for any loss from reliance on this information.
