Whereas the S&P 500 has stumbled roughly 6% year-to-date and growth-heavy benchmarks have fared even worse, a handful of ETFs are posting sturdy positive aspects with little fanfare. The frequent thread is actual property, tangible commodities, and the sort of companies that profit when the world will get extra unsure.
The Iran battle that erupted in late February, culminating in a near-total disruption of site visitors by means of the Strait of Hormuz, has reshaped the funding panorama in ways in which lengthen properly past crude oil. Power provide chains are fractured, commodity costs are surging throughout the board and buyers are rediscovering the attraction of funds anchored in bodily shortage moderately than a number of enlargement.
The International X Lithium & Battery Tech ETF (LIT), Schwab US Dividend Fairness ETF (SCHD) and Invesco Optimum Yield Diversified Commodity Technique ETF (PDBC) are three distinctive investments which have significantly outperformed the market this yr and have a number of tailwinds which will drive them larger.
Picture Supply: Zacks Funding Analysis
The LIT ETF Shares are Gaining on Oil Options
At first look, a lithium and battery know-how fund looks as if an unlikely beneficiary of an oil shock. However when filling an SUV prices $160 and powering an EV for a similar distance runs about $75, the family choice to contemplate an EV turns into a easy budgeting equation.
LIT tracks the Solactive International Lithium Index, investing throughout the total lithium worth chain, from upstream miners like Albemarle to battery producers like Panasonic, to end-market names like Tesla. Rio Tinto is the fund’s largest holding at over 21% of property, giving it significant publicity to diversified mining as properly.
What makes the present rally notably fascinating is that it is being pushed by a number of converging forces. Lithium demand projections have been revised sharply larger, as Albemarle now forecasts demand might attain 3.6 million metric tonnes by 2030, greater than double 2025 ranges. Washington’s renewed push to safe important mineral provide chains has added a coverage tailwind. And the Iran battle has accelerated each the buyer economics and a provide constraint on quite a few different commodities.
Traders ought to notice the dangers, as LIT carries a 0.75% expense ratio, a beta of 1.59, and stays a concentrated, comparatively risky car. A lot of the YTD surge has been sentiment-driven, however as a structural play on accelerated battery adoption and commodity constraints, it is laborious to disregard.
As of this morning, the LIT ETF is gapping larger and now nearing the higher sure of a two-month consolidation. Traders eager on this ETF would possibly look ahead to a break of assist or resistance to contemplate positioning.
Picture Supply: TradingView
Dividend ETF SCHD Gives Defensive Positioning
SCHD would not usually get described as an thrilling fund. It tracks the Dow Jones US Dividend 100 Index, screening for corporations with not less than 10 consecutive years of dividend funds and filtering by cash-flow-to-debt ratios, return on fairness, and dividend development charges. The result’s a portfolio of 100 blue-chip dividend payers that leans closely into power, client staples, and healthcare. That composition has been very best for 2026.
With power shares comprising roughly 21% of the portfolio, led by ConocoPhillips at 4.2% and Chevron at 4.6%, SCHD has captured vital upside from the oil worth surge. In the meantime, its 19% allocation to client defensive names and 16% in healthcare present additional defensive assist. The fund trades at roughly 18.7x earnings, a significant low cost to the S&P 500’s 23-27x vary, reinforcing its attraction as a rotation vacation spot throughout the present flight from development.
The fund simply accomplished its annual March reconstitution, trimming power publicity by roughly 8 proportion factors and including names like UnitedHealth Group, Abbott Laboratories, and Procter & Gamble. The methodology is mechanical, promoting the winners whose rising costs have compressed their yields and shopping for beaten-down high quality names with larger yields and stronger dividend development trajectories. The incoming shares averaged 63% five-year dividend development charges versus 37% for the names eliminated.
At a 0.06% expense ratio, a 3.47% yield and a Zacks Rank #2 (Purchase) ranking, SCHD stands out as an interesting funding alternative. Its 9.4% annualized return over the past 20 years and 11% YTD positive aspects point out additional why buyers have rotated into the title.
The SCHD ETF is just a few p.c off its highs however exhibiting appreciable relative energy versus the broad market indexes. It seems to have damaged out from a descending channel this week, a probably bullish sign.
Picture Supply: TradingView
The PDBC ETF Shares are Up Extra Than 30% YTD
PDBC is the purest expression of the present commodity increase in ETF type. The fund is actively managed, investing in futures contracts throughout 14 closely traded commodities spanning power, valuable metals, industrial metals, and agriculture. Its “optimum yield” technique makes an attempt to mitigate the roll-yield drag that has traditionally plagued passive commodity funds, which generally is a significant edge during times of sustained backwardation.
The Iran battle has been the first catalyst, however PDBC’s rally was properly underway earlier than the primary missiles flew. Commodities had already been benefiting from a confluence of supply-side constraints and persistently sturdy international development. The Hormuz closure merely poured gasoline on the development.
With Brent and WTI crude having surged previous $100 per barrel from pre-conflict ranges within the low-to-mid $60s, the power part of the portfolio has completed the heaviest lifting. However the rally has been broad-based, as gold, industrial metals, and agricultural commodities have all participated.
PDBC’s construction deserves a point out too. In contrast to many commodity ETFs, it points an ordinary 1099 moderately than a Okay-1, eliminating a standard tax headache for buyers. At a 0.59% expense ratio and $5.5 billion in property, it provides institutional-grade liquidity. The fund has attracted over $400 million in internet inflows over the previous three months alone, suggesting that institutional allocators, not simply retail merchants, are constructing strategic commodity positions.
The PDBC ETF has pushed to a different new file excessive this morning, demonstrating continued momentum within the commodity bull market.
Picture Supply: TradingView
How Ought to Traders Place Their Portfolios
What connects these three funds is a reorientation of market management away from the intangible and towards the tangible. The property which have struggled most in 2026, high-multiple development shares, AI infrastructure performs, long-duration tech, are precisely the sort of companies that endure when power prices spike, low cost charges rise, and buyers start pricing in a world of persistent provide disruption moderately than limitless digital abundance.
Whether or not the present surroundings proves transient or structural is determined by the trajectory of the Iran battle and the broader geopolitical recalibration it has triggered. However for now, the market is telling a transparent story: actual property are again in vogue, and these three ETFs are using the wave.
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International X Lithium & Battery Tech ETF (LIT): ETF Analysis Stories
Schwab U.S. Dividend Fairness ETF (SCHD): ETF Analysis Stories
Invesco Optimum Yield Diversified Commodity Stratgy No Okay-1 ETF (PDBC): ETF Analysis Stories
This text initially revealed on Zacks Funding Analysis (zacks.com).
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the creator and don’t essentially replicate these of Nasdaq, Inc.
