Lan Anh Tran: We’re almost halfway through 2025 and what a roller coaster this year has been. From Treasury yields’ volatility to stock market wobble, investors have had to brave many storms so far.
If you want a moment of reprieve from the short-term fluctuations, check out these three great ETFs that can steady your portfolio regardless of what the market is doing.
3 Top US ETFs for 2025 and Beyond
- iShares Core S&P Total US Stock Market ETF ITOT
- Dimensional US High Profitability ETF DUHP
- iShares LifePath Target Date 2045 ETF ITDE
First up is Gold-rated iShares Core S&P Total US Stock Market ETF, ticker ITOT. The only free lunch in investing is diversification, and this ETF is excellent at taking advantage of it. It packs the full market spectrum of the US stock universe inside a single portfolio that costs investors only 3 basis points annually.
The ETF uses market-cap weighting to efficiently size its position and avoid the common pitfalls of stock-picking and market-timing. Its expansive and diversified portfolio does not make any big bets on any single stock, but preferring instead to hold a portion of all potential winners.
A low-cost ETF that rises when the market rises might not be groundbreaking, but it has surely delivered. ITOT has consistently outperformed its average category peers since inception, finishing in the better-ranking half of its category for the trailing 15 years.
Next up is a quality-oriented option, Silver-rated Dimensional US High Profitability ETF, DUHP. This ETF searches for the most profitable US companies, pulling in industry stalwarts such as Apple AAPL or Microsoft MSFT. The managers start with market-cap weighting, but then tilt the ETF toward smaller, cheaper, and more-profitable names. This profitability focus weeds out growth traps that trade at expensive price multiples with little earnings to prove.
The ETF might miss out on the market’s highest high, but it has weathered market downturns very well. It outpaced the category average by 9 percentage points during the 2022 market meltdown, for instance. It landed in the top-ranking half of its category over the trailing three years, which is a nice track record for its first few years on the market. We expect this affordable portfolio of high-quality stocks to continue outperforming category peers in the future.
Last but not least, iShare’s series of Gold-rated LifePath Target Date ETFs bring us back to one of the most important investing goals, growing your long-term wealth. These ETFs marry the accessibility and low investment minimum of the ETF vehicle with the convenience of an all-in-one retirement portfolio. The suite has target retirement dates ranging between 5 years and 45 years from now, so an investor looking to retire 20 years from now, for instance, can take a look at the iShares Live Part Target Date 2045 ETF, ticker ITDE.
The ETF’s glide path scales down the equity risk as they approach the target retirement date, but amping up the bond sleeve to better insulate the portfolio against short-term market volatility.
BlackRock’s capable target-date team handles this portfolio, supported by the firm’s strong research teams. They continue to make thoughtful enhancements to the portfolio that helps earn its stripes. The ETF’s bond sleeves start holding a granular mix of bond funds instead of broad-market index funds in 2022, for instance. This allows it to better target specific credit and duration risk exposure along its glide path, such as tilting toward safer government bonds closer to retirement. While the ETF series are new launches, the longer track record on its mutual fund sibling, the BlackRock LifePath target-date series, have been strong.
Watch 3 Defensive ETFs for Current Volatility for more from Lan Anh Tran.