Since President Donald Trump’s tariff regime was announced last week, markets have been unusually volatile. CBOE’s Volatility Index, or VIX, has jumped to about 50, which is more than twice as high as its 21 score before the tariff announcement on April 2.
Monday and Tuesday have illustrated the wild gyrations in the market, as stocks have fluctuated from huge losses to huge gains, all within the course of the trading day.
With uncertainty around tariffs, economic growth and/or a recession, corporate earnings, and inflation, among other factors, investors should expect more volatility in the months ahead.
Fortunately, investors can invest in ETFs that are designed to reduce risk and volatility in a portfolio. Here are three top ETFs that are considered safe havens in volatile markets.
1. Siren DIVCON Dividend Defender ETF
Through all of the craziness of the past few days, the Siren DIVCON Dividend Defender ETF (NYSE:DFND) has held up about as well as can be expected. This ETF, managed by SRN Advisors, has only lost 1.5% over the past week, when the indexes are off 10% or more.
For the year, this ETF is actually up 2% year-to-date, which doesn’t sound like much, but in a market where the indexes are down 10% to 20%, it is more than welcomed.
That’s because the ETF is built for low volatility. The fund invests in the proprietary Siren DIVCON Dividend Defender Index, which employs a forward-looking dividend rating system. The system evaluates large-cap company health indicators based on seven key factors. About 75% of the portfolio is long in companies most likely to raise dividends while 25% is short in the firms most likely to cut their dividends.
Thus, it is designed to provide more stable overall returns, with lower volatility and correlation. This is particularly true in heightened market volatility.
Currently, about half of the fund is invested in cash and government bonds. Other top holdings are Ecolab (NYSE:ECL), SBA Communications (NASDAQ:SBAC), and Visa (NYSE:V).
Gold has long been considered a safe haven asset during volatile stock markets and this year is no different.
The most popular ETF to invest in gold is the SPDR® Gold Shares (NYSE:GLD), which has almost $90 billion in assets under management. The objective of the ETF is for the shares to reflect the performance of the price of gold bullion, less the ETFs expenses.
The price of gold has soared to record highs this year, as stocks have tanked. Gold is currently priced at $3,000 per ounce, which is down slightly from its all-time high of around $3,166 in early April.
The price has dropped since the April 2 tariff announcement, which may seem counterintuitive as one would think it would spike as a safe haven. But experts say there is a good reason why it has dropped. Specifically, it is likely that institutional investors are liquidating gold to raise cash or cover margin calls in other harder hit asset classes, according to ETF Trends. Once the dust settles, experts anticipate investors flocking back to gold as a safe haven.
Goldman Sachs projects the price of gold to hit $3,300 by the end of the year while Macquarie Group (OTC:MQBKY) said it could hit $3,500.
The SPDR Gold Shares are already up 14% YTD, so it could have some more room to run.
The iShares Global Consumer Staples ETF (NYSE:KXI) is another ETF that is built for stability, particularly in volatile or economically challenging times. That’s because consumer staples are the items most people can’t live without, whether times are good or bad. These include essential food and household items like bread, cheese, soaps, drinks, packaged goods, and just about anything you buy at the grocery store on a regular basis.
This ETF taps into the global market, investing in the S&P Global 1200 Consumer Staples Capped Index. It includes consumer staples stocks from around the world, including Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland, the UK, and the US. It also features several caps to promote diversification.
The top three holdings are Costco (NASDAQ:COST), Proctor and Gamble (NYSE:PG) and Philip Morris (NYSE:PM).
This ETF has not been immune to the recent sell off, down about 4% over the past five days. But year-to-date it is up about 2% and it should outperform in choppy and uncertain markets.