p1ago04r68lrt12vk1amqeujirs6.jpg
The equity market has been marked by volatility over the past six to eight months, which tends to make clients nervous. But when taking a longer view, things have been brighter. Over the past three years, for instance, the S&P 500 has posted a return of about 34%.

To that end, we ranked the best and worst ETF categories over the past three years as tracked by Morningstar. The good news? Almost all retirement categories, as measured by various target-date funds geared to clients from age 30 to 55, are in the top 10 categories. The bad news? Clients who stuck with their energy holdings have seen better days. Although in the name of buying low, those losing categories come with a silver lining for clients who haven’t already bought in. After all, for investors who like to follow Warren Buffett's advice, losing investments can offer an opportunity to be greedy when others are fearful.

Click through to see the 10 best ETF categories over three years, followed by the 10 worst, or click here to view the list as a one page version.

All data is from Morningstar.

Image: Fotolia
p1ago0v08p1qd11lgr1ui81n0b5v06.png
p1ago0v08p19iq1qmaugn94iv4p7.png
p1ago0v08pqtj1b1q8689u61qt78.png
p1ago0v08p1jaq1n4koci1tus8n9.png
p1ago0v08q18351feiagmpvg1fe6a.png
p1ago0v08qjea5pg1u81i6a1l2db.png
p1ago0v08q1q31j87100616huub8c.png
p1ago0v08q1knd18mp1u0v1pia1ig4d.png
p1ago0v08q1d6611lfot615rs252e.png
p1ago0v08r4sigl518js1j7k163nf.png
p1ago0v08rphe88pujn1ov51l8fg.png
p1ago0v08r17e01ci0ipk1d6s1oeqh.png
p1ago0v08rgrd1keoehc1tftnb4i.png
p1ago0v08r1tsa155m169l84u1u1vj.png
p1ago0v08r190a10nj1gti24u1uo7k.png
p1ago0v08ro8ualv1ngp8jh1oafl.png
p1ago0v08s1eqei3517qa1h5pv31m.png
p1ago0v08s1pjk1in42a91gecovmn.png
p1ago0v08sc9b1dlr1n1c8l01dt7o.png
p1ago0v08s1cgl1kmd1pksmi91n0jp.png
MORE FROM FINANCIAL PLANNING