What $10,000 Invested 5 Years Ago Is Worth Today — Every ASX ETF Ranked
If you invested $10,000 in an Australian ETF five years ago and reinvested all distributions, how much would you have today?
If you invested $10,000 in an Australian ETF five years ago — May 2021 — and reinvested all distributions, how much would you have today?
We ran the numbers on every ASX ETF with a 5-year track record (220 funds as at May 2026). The best turned $10,000 into roughly $26,500. The worst turned it into about $1,050. And the most popular funds — the ones most Australians actually hold — landed in between.
All figures are 5-year cumulative total returns (with distributions reinvested) to 31 May 2026, derived from issuer factsheets, CBOE Australia, InvestSMART, and ReviewETF.com.au.
The Headlines
Stat | Value |
|---|---|
ETFs with 5-year data | 220 |
Best result | GDX — ~$26,500 (+165%) |
Worst result | SNAS — ~$1,050 (-89.5%) |
Median result | ~$15,300 (+53%) |
ETFs that made money | 196 (89%) |
ETFs that lost money | 24 (11%) |
ETFs that doubled your money | 28 (13%) |
The median ETF turned $10,000 into about $15,300 — a 53% return over 5 years, or roughly 8.9% p.a. That comfortably beat inflation, term deposits, and savings accounts.
But the spread is enormous. The gap between the best and worst is roughly $25,400 on the same starting amount over the same period.
The Top 20: Where $10,000 Grew the Most
Rank | Ticker | Fund | $10K Became | 5Y Return |
|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | VanEck Gold Miners | ~$26,500 | +165% | |
2 | Global X Physical Silver | ~$26,100 | +161% | |
3 | Betashares Nasdaq 100 | ~$24,000 | +140% | |
4 | Betashares Gold Miners (Hedged) | ~$23,800 | +138% | |
5 | Perth Mint Gold | ~$23,400 | +134% | |
6 | Global X Physical Gold | ~$23,200 | +132% | |
7 | Global X FANG+ | ~$23,000 | +130% | |
8 | iShares S&P 500 | ~$22,900 | +129% | |
9 | SPDR S&P 500 | ~$22,800 | +128% | |
10 | VanEck International Quality | ~$22,400 | +124% | |
11 | iShares Global 100 | ~$22,000 | +120% | |
12 | Betashares Geared US Equity | ~$21,900 | +119% | |
13 | Global X Physical Platinum | ~$21,500 | +115% | |
14 | Betashares Gold Bullion (Hedged) | ~$21,000 | +110% | |
15 | Betashares Japan (Hedged) | ~$20,900 | +109% | |
16 | Global X Precious Metals Basket | ~$20,800 | +108% | |
17 | Betashares Global Banks (Hedged) | ~$20,700 | +107% | |
18 | Betashares Nasdaq 100 Hedged | ~$20,400 | +104% | |
19 | VanEck Australian Banks | ~$20,300 | +103% | |
20 | Betashares Global Energy (Hedged) | ~$20,100 | +101% |
The story of the past 5 years has now shifted. Three months ago, gold miners ran away as the runaway winner. Since then gold miners corrected sharply (GDX down ~23% in the most recent quarter as profit-taking hit miners hard), while US tech and AI kept running. The result: NDQ has now climbed into the podium, and IVV and SPY have moved into the top 10.
What's new in this refresh:
NDQ jumped from rank #14 → #3. US tech compounded another quarter of strong returns.
Gold miners corrected. GDX still #1 but the $39K headline of three months ago is now ~$26.5K after the Q1 2026 pullback.
HJPN dropped. Japan rally faded, +109% over 5Y (was +124% three months ago).
NDQ-Hedged (HNDQ) now in the top 20 for the first time — currency-hedged exposure benefited from a weakening US dollar later in the period.
Compare any two of the top performers head-to-head on our ETF compare tool — for example GDX vs NDQ vs IVV to see exactly how the gold/tech/broad-US trade has played out.
What the Most Popular ETFs Actually Delivered
Forget the outliers. Here's what happened to $10,000 in the ETFs most Australians actually own:
Ticker | Fund | $10K Became | 5Y Return |
|---|---|---|---|
Global X Physical Gold | ~$23,200 | +132% | |
Betashares Nasdaq 100 | ~$24,000 | +140% | |
iShares S&P 500 | ~$22,900 | +129% | |
VanEck International Quality | ~$22,400 | +124% | |
Vanguard MSCI International Shares | ~$19,800 | +98% | |
Betashares Global Shares | n/a | (since-inception +19.3% p.a.) | |
Vanguard High Yield | ~$17,800 | +78% | |
Betashares Australia 200 | ~$16,400 | +64% | |
iShares S&P/ASX 200 | ~$16,300 | +63% | |
Vanguard Australian Shares | ~$16,200 | +62% | |
Vanguard Diversified High Growth | ~$16,000 | +60% | |
Betashares Diversified All Growth | ~$17,500 | +75% | |
VanEck Global Infrastructure | ~$15,600 | +56% | |
Vanguard Australian Property | ~$15,100 | +51% | |
Vanguard Diversified Growth | ~$14,500 | +45% | |
Betashares High Interest Cash | ~$12,200 | +22% | |
Vanguard Aus Fixed Interest | ~$10,500 | +5% | |
Vanguard Government Bonds | ~$10,300 | +3% |
Key insights from the popular tier:
International beat domestic — again. IVV ($22,900) crushed VAS ($16,200) by ~$6,700 on $10K. VGS ($19,800) beat VAS ($16,200) by ~$3,600. The US-overweight has been the right call for half a decade.
VAS, A200, and IOZ are still within $200 of each other. $16,200 vs $16,400 vs $16,300. Holding more than one of these three is still pointless. Compare them live: VAS vs A200 vs IOZ.
VHY still beat VAS. Dividend tilt added value, though by less than it did a year ago. The banks dominate VHY and 2025–26 has been kind to them.
DHHF beat VDHG by ~$1,500 on $10K. Both are diversified all-growth funds. DHHF's slightly higher international tilt did the work.
Bonds are slowly recovering. VAF returned ~5% over 5Y, VGB ~3%. Both still lag inflation. The 2022 rate shock is mostly digested but not erased.
Cash compounded steadily. AAA turned $10K into ~$12.2K. Still useful as a buffer. See Best Cash ETFs Australia 2026.
BGBL has no 5-year history (launched May 2023) — but since launch it has marginally outperformed VGS. See VGS vs BGBL.
The Bottom 20: Where $10,000 Went to Die
Rank | Ticker | Fund | $10K Became | 5Y Return |
|---|---|---|---|---|
201 | Russell Aus Government Bond | ~$9,650 | -3.5% | |
202 | Betashares Aus Government Bond | ~$9,580 | -4.2% | |
203 | Betashares Global Green Bond | ~$9,400 | -6.0% | |
204 | Global X S&P Biotech | ~$9,350 | -6.5% | |
205 | iShares China Large-Cap | ~$9,250 | -7.5% | |
206 | VanEck FTSE China A50 | ~$9,180 | -8.2% | |
207 | Global X Physical Palladium | ~$8,500 | -15.0% | |
208 | Betashares Cloud Computing | ~$8,100 | -19.0% | |
209 | Betashares US Treasury 20+ Year | ~$6,800 | -32.0% | |
210 | Betashares Aus Equities Bear | ~$6,200 | -38.0% | |
211 | Betashares Strong Aus Dollar | ~$5,900 | -41.0% | |
212 | Betashares Aus Equities Strong Bear | ~$2,800 | -72.0% | |
213 | Betashares US Equities Strong Bear | ~$2,100 | -78.9% | |
214 | Global X Ultra Short Nasdaq 100 | ~$1,050 | -89.5% |
Three categories dominate the losers — and the story is now even starker than in our last update:
Inverse / bear funds (SNAS, BBUS, BBOZ, BEAR). Designed to go up when markets fall. Over 5 years of rising markets they've been catastrophic. SNAS now destroyed 89.5% of your capital — three months ago it was 86.5%. BBUS dropped from -73% to -79%. These are short-term hedging tools, not investments. We explain the structural decay in our covered-call deep-dive — the same daily reset math destroys leveraged inverse funds even faster than covered calls erode upside.
Long-duration government bonds (GGOV, AGVT, RGB). The 2022 bond crash + 2025 RBA holding higher-for-longer has left long bonds nursing severe drawdowns. GGOV (US Treasury 20+ Year) still down 32% over 5 years, only modestly improved on the -29.6% of three months ago.
China equities (IZZ, CETF). Regulatory crackdowns, property crisis, and geopolitical tensions still mean a $10K investment 5 years ago is worth ~$9,200 today.
The Distribution: Where Did $10,000 Typically End Up?
Looking across all 220 ETFs:
Range | ETFs in this range |
|---|---|
Doubled+ ($20K+) | 28 ETFs (13%) |
Strong growth ($15K–$20K) | 84 ETFs (38%) |
Moderate growth ($12K–$15K) | 56 ETFs (25%) |
Modest growth ($10K–$12K) | 28 ETFs (13%) |
Lost money (under $10K) | 24 ETFs (11%) |
The most common outcome was the $15K–$20K range — the "strong growth" tier where most popular broad-market funds landed. Only 28 ETFs doubled your money, but 89% of all ETFs delivered some kind of positive return.
Key Takeaways from May 2026
$10,000 in VAS became ~$16,200. In VGS, ~$19,800. In IVV, ~$22,900. International shares — and the US in particular — comprehensively outperformed Australian shares over this period. Five years on, the call to diversify globally has paid off in dollars.
Gold corrected, tech kept running. Three months ago gold dominated this list. Today GDX is still #1 but the gap has closed and NDQ, IVV, and FANG are right behind. The lesson: even multi-year asset class leadership is reversible.
VAS, A200, and IOZ delivered within $200 of each other. Pick one. Move on. See VAS vs A200 vs IOZ.
Bonds are slowly healing. VAF +5%, VGB +3% over 5 years. Long-duration funds (GGOV) still deeply underwater. The implication for retirement portfolios that lean heavily on bonds is significant — see Best ETFs for Australian Retirees in 2026.
Inverse and bear funds continue to destroy wealth. SNAS turned $10,000 into ~$1,050. These funds are short-term trading tools, not investments. If you held BBOZ for 5 years, you lost 72% of your money while markets went up.
89% of ETFs made money. Wars, pandemics, rate hikes, banking crises, AI booms, gold corrections — and still the vast majority of ETFs delivered positive returns over 5 years. Time in the market beats timing the market.
The Compare Tool — See Any of These Head-to-Head
You can run any combination of the funds in this article through our ETF compare tool. A few useful starting comparisons:
The international shares race: VAS vs VGS vs IVV — local vs global vs US-only
The gold vs tech debate: GDX vs NDQ vs IVV
The diversified showdown: VDHG vs DHHF
The cash-bond-equity ladder: AAA vs VAF vs VAS
Related Reading on ReviewETF
Sources
CBOE Australia Monthly Funds Report (May 2026); InvestSMART (31 May 2026 monthly data); Betashares, Vanguard, BlackRock iShares, Global X, VanEck, State Street SPDR factsheets (May 2026); ReviewETF.com.au.
All returns are cumulative 5-year total returns including distributions reinvested, to 31 May 2026. Figures for the top and bottom funds are rounded to the nearest hundred dollars and derived from published 5-year p.a. returns compounded over five years.
No fund manager wrote this article. No issuer is paying for placement. This is independent analysis based on publicly available data.
This article is general information only and does not constitute financial advice. Past performance is not indicative of future performance. Consider your circumstances and seek professional advice before making investment decisions.
