WWIBWN ETF scenarios
What would an ETF investment be worth now?
Compare how broad-market, technology, dividend, semiconductor and gold ETFs performed from the same 1 June 2015 starting point.
SMH turned $1,000 into the largest value among the current ETF scenarios.
VTI, SPY and VOO produced relatively similar long-term outcomes.
Every ETF below uses the same starting date for a clearer comparison.
SMH
Concentrated semiconductor exposure before chips became central to the AI investment cycle.
QQQ
Growth-heavy Nasdaq-100 exposure before mega-cap technology companies dominated returns.
VOO
A low-cost Vanguard S&P 500 fund tracking hundreds of large U.S. businesses.
SPY
The original and highly traded S&P 500 ETF benchmark for large U.S. companies.
VTI
Total U.S. stock-market exposure spanning large, medium and smaller companies.
SCHD
Dividend-focused U.S. equity exposure compared with broad-market and growth funds.
GLD
Gold exposure offering a contrast to equity ETFs through changing economic conditions.
What is an ETF?
An exchange-traded fund, or ETF, is an investment fund that trades on a stock exchange. One ETF can hold shares in hundreds of companies, track a particular market index, focus on an industry or provide exposure to an asset such as gold.
ETFs can make diversification simpler, but their risks and returns depend on what they hold. A broad-market ETF behaves very differently from a concentrated semiconductor fund.
How to read these comparisons
Each scenario estimates the value of a $1,000 investment made on 1 June 2015 using adjusted historical market data where available. Results may differ from brokerage statements because of fees, taxes, currency movements, execution prices and data availability.
These comparisons are educational and do not show which ETF will perform best in the future. Past performance does not guarantee future results.