In a volatile market, many investors are prioritizing growth over value. But that doesn’t mean you have to avoid exchange-traded funds. There are several high-growth ETFs that are outperforming many individual stocks.
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Investors are spoiled for choice when it comes to investable themes in 2025. Quantum computing, artificial intelligence (AI), and a rare opportunity in precious metals all come to mind. However, if you’re like many investors, having so many choices can cause you to not make a choice. Or you can make the wrong choice due to the fear of missing out (FOMO).
That would be unfortunate, because opportunities like these can have a significantly positive impact on your wealth-building ambitions. Many investors set aside a small portion of their portfolio for speculative stocks. However, that doesn’t have to mean putting it all on one or two stocks that you hope will be the next big thing.
In this article, we’re looking at three high-growth ETFs that provide exposure to speculative sectors. You’ll get exposure to some of the long-term trends that are fueling the market in a vehicle that spreads the risk among a basket of stocks to mitigate downside risk.
High-Growth ETFs #1: iShares MSCI Global Gold Miners ETF (RING)
The iShares MSCI Global Gold MIners ETF (NASDAQ: RING) is a high-growth ETF that provides exposure to the explosive demand for gold. Before looking at the fund’s performance, it’s important to understand why it’s not too late to invest in gold.
Gold has been on a run that many generations have never seen. As of this writing, the yellow metal commands a price of around $4,000 per ounce. Some analysts believe it may reach $5,000 by the end of 2025 and could be much higher in the next five to 10 years.
Support for this is as a debasement trade. Simply put, many global central banks are buying record amounts of gold as a hedge against the U.S. dollar. The greenback has been the best house in a bad neighborhood for many years, but with the United States government in a debt spiral that shows no sign of reversing, many investors are finding safety in hard money.
The RING ETF specifically focuses on gold miners including Newmont Corp. (NYSE: NEM). These companies are seen as having a long runway since, like oil drillers, they require higher prices for the underlying commodity, in this case gold, to make their operations profitable.
This high-growth ETF is up over 125% in 2025. That’s much better than the total return of around 48.98% since its inception in 2011. The fund has a low expense ratio of around 0.39%.
High-Growth ETFs #2: VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH)
Semiconductors are a cyclical industry, but the convergence of AI, autonomous technology, and quantum computing are creating a supercycle for chip stocks that is still in the early stages.
That’s the reason behind the growth of companies like NVIDIA (NASDAQ: NVDA), Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ: AMD) and Broadcom (NASDAQ: AVGO). However, you’ll get exposure to each of those stocks and more in the VanEck Semiconductor ETF (NASDAQ: SMH).
But the real benefit of this high-growth ETF is its ability to give investors broad exposure to the category without risks such as tariffs that may impact individual stocks.
The SMH fund was launched in late 2000 and has delivered a total return of over 2,500% in the last 20 years. It has a low expense ratio of 0.35%
High-Growth ETFs #3: Amplify Transformational Data ETF (BLOK)
You don’t have to be a Bitcoin “hodler” to appreciate the transformational nature of the underlying blockchain technology. We’re rapidly moving into a society where more and more transactions will be tokenized.
Still, owning and taking custody of cryptocurrency can make some investors uncomfortable. The Amplify Transformational Data ETF (NYSEARCA: BLOK) is a solid high-growth ETF that provides exposure to companies at all levels of the blockchain ecosystem.
An important thing to point out about this ETF is that it doesn’t provide direct exposure to Bitcoin or other altcoins. Instead, it invests in companies that are connected to the broader digital assets ecosystem like Robinhood Markets (NASDAQ: HOOD), TeraWulf (NASDAQ: WULF), and Block (NYSE: XYZ).
The fund has an expense ratio of around 0.70%, which is higher than average. However, it does come with a dividend yield of over 3.93%, and it’s been delivering the performance to back up a high expense ratio.
In 2025, the BLOK ETF is up more than 52%, which is better than the performance of the S&P 500. However, since its debut in 2018, the fund has delivered shareholders a 344% total return. That means an initial investment of $5,000 would be worth over $22,200. And that comes without any of the real or perceived risks of owning cryptocurrency.
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