The 20 Top Performing 'High Yield' ETFs

Below is a list of the 20 best performing "high yield" ETFs over the past year. The list is updated approximately once per month on Scott's Investments where several other momentum strategies are detailed. ETFs were ranked by one year performance and were required to have a 3% minimum dividend yield.

One year ago, we were in the midst of a crisis, with the worst just about to hit the global economy. Since then, the one year return on many of these yielding ETFs have performed very well.

Some of the ETFs listed below - the US Preferred ETFs - have performed exceptionally well as investors snatched up preferred shares at depressed levels during the financial crisis leading to excellent one year returns. Secondly, emerging markets, Asia, and South Africa have all been leaders in this momentum yield list, which echoes some of the performance we have seen in the overall equity markets.

The 200-day SMA column indicates the percent the ETF is trading above/below its current 200 day simple moving average, a strategy I detail frequently and inspired in part by Tom Lydon, author of The ETF Trend Following Playbook: Profiting from Trends in Bull or Bear Markets with Exchange Traded Funds, and Mebane Faber, author of The Ivy Portfolio: How to Invest Like the Top Endowments and Avoid Bear Markets.

Ticker	Company	Dividend Yield	Performance (Year)	200-Day SMA	Price
PFF	iShares S&P U.S. Preferred Stock Index	8.25%	29.35%	30.32%	35.96
DGS	WisdomTree Emerging Mkts Small Cap Div	3.35%	23.89%	37.92%	39.62
SZR	WisdomTree Dreyfus South African Rand	5.71%	23.04%	23.56%	28.3
EZA	iShares MSCI South Africa Index	3.40%	22.81%	38.75%	56.11
DNH	WisdomTree Pacific ex-Japan Equity Inc	4.40%	20.22%	48.64%	51.67
EWT	iShares MSCI Taiwan Index	5.03%	17.62%	31.99%	11.95
PCY	PowerShares Emerging Mkts Sovereign Debt	5.95%	17.12%	18.50%	25.99
EWP	iShares MSCI Spain Index	4.77%	16.92%	37.41%	49.62
DEM	WisdomTree Emerging Markets Equity Inc	5.07%	16.84%	33.26%	47.18
PGX	PowerShares Preferred	8.53%	15.90%	19.69%	13.18
PGF	PowerShares Financial Preferred	9.24%	15.29%	29.63%	15.53
VWO	Vanguard Emerging Markets Stock ETF	3.11%	14.58%	36.45%	37.88
EWH	iShares MSCI Hong Kong Index	3.99%	14.01%	28.73%	15.38
DFJ	WisdomTree Japan SmallCap Dividend	3.74%	13.22%	18.26%	41.92
EWS	iShares MSCI Singapore Index	3.31%	11.74%	36.00%	10.66
LQD	iShares iBoxx $ Invest Grade Corp Bond	5.29%	11.66%	9.05%	105.61
EWA	iShares MSCI Australia Index	4.18%	10.70%	42.22%	21.32
EMB	iShares JPMorgan USD Emerg Markets Bond	5.67%	10.46%	14.56%	101.24
INY	SPDR Barclays Capital New York Muni Bond	3.84%	9.36%	7.62%	22.55
CFT	iShares Barclays Credit Bond	4.82%	9.28%	8.47%	101.75

Date Source: FINVIZ

Disclosures: None.