XEQT Returns by Year: Complete Performance History Since Inception

A few months ago, I was sitting at a coffee shop, helping a friend figure out if XEQT was worth buying. She had done the basic research – she knew it was a global equity ETF, she understood the MER was low, and she liked the simplicity. But she had one question I didn’t have a quick answer to: “What has it actually returned each year since it launched?”

I pulled up some data on my phone and started reading off the numbers. Her reaction was fascinating. When I told her about 2021 (+21%), her eyes went wide. When I mentioned 2022 (-11%), she winced. When I told her about 2024 (+25%), she asked, “Should I wait for a dip?”

Every single year triggered an emotional response. And that’s exactly the point of this page: to lay out the full history of XEQT returns, year by year, so you can see the whole picture – the great years, the terrible years, and everything in between. Because investing in XEQT isn’t about any single year. It’s about the compounding effect of staying invested through all of them.

Important disclaimer: The figures below are approximate total returns (including distributions) in Canadian dollars. They are based on publicly available data and are intended for educational purposes only. Your actual returns may differ depending on when you purchased, whether you reinvested distributions, and your account type. Past performance does not guarantee future results.

The Complete Year-by-Year Table

Cumulative return from August 2019 inception through end of 2025 (approximate): +100%

That means $10,000 invested at XEQT’s launch would have grown to roughly $20,000 in about six and a half years, assuming distributions were reinvested. Not bad for an investment that required zero effort beyond clicking “buy.”

2019: The Birth of XEQT (August – December)

XEQT launched on August 7, 2019, and it entered the world at a pretty good time. Markets had recovered from a rough Q4 2018 sell-off, trade tensions between the US and China were simmering but hadn’t boiled over yet, and interest rates were low. The final five months of 2019 delivered a solid start – roughly +8% from launch through year-end.

For most early buyers, including me, this felt like validation. You could buy a single ETF, get instant global diversification, and watch the number go up. It was almost too easy.

Of course, nobody knew what was coming four months later.

2020: The COVID Crash and Recovery (~+11%)

2020 was the year that tested every passive investor’s resolve. In late February and March, global markets cratered as COVID-19 shut down the world economy. From peak to trough, XEQT dropped roughly 30% in about five weeks. My portfolio went from looking healthy to looking terrifying seemingly overnight.

I remember staring at my Wealthsimple app, watching the numbers fall day after day, and genuinely wondering if the whole system was breaking. Financial news was apocalyptic. “Worst since 2008.” “Depression-level unemployment.” “Markets may not recover for years.”

But I kept buying. Every two weeks, my recurring purchase went through. And because prices were so low, those March and April purchases ended up being some of the best investments I’ve ever made.

By the end of 2020, XEQT had recovered and then some – finishing the year up roughly +11%. The investors who panic-sold in March locked in massive losses. The investors who kept buying through the chaos ended up ahead.

If you want a deeper look at how XEQT handles downturns, check out our analysis of XEQT performance during recessions.

2021: The Post-Pandemic Boom (~+21%)

After surviving the COVID crash, 2021 felt like a reward for patience. Vaccines rolled out globally. Economies reopened. Consumer spending surged. And the stock market went on a massive run.

XEQT returned approximately +21% for the year. Nearly every geographic region in the portfolio contributed positively. US tech stocks continued their dominance, Canadian energy stocks surged alongside oil prices, and even international markets posted solid gains.

This was the year that made people feel like investing was easy. Social media was full of screenshots showing incredible gains. Meme stocks were exploding. Crypto was hitting all-time highs. The temptation to abandon your boring XEQT strategy and chase the hot thing was intense.

But the investors who stayed disciplined – who kept their money in XEQT and didn’t chase GameStop or Dogecoin – were building a foundation that would serve them well when the hangover arrived in 2022.

2022: The Reality Check (~-11%)

After two years of strong gains, 2022 was a painful year for almost everyone. Inflation surged to levels not seen in decades. Central banks responded with the most aggressive interest rate hikes in a generation. Both stocks and bonds fell simultaneously, which almost never happens.

XEQT lost approximately 11% for the year. For an all-equity portfolio, this was actually relatively contained – many growth-heavy portfolios lost 20-30%. XEQT’s diversification across geographies and sectors provided some cushion. Canadian energy stocks, for example, had a strong year and offset some of the losses from US tech.

Still, it was psychologically brutal. After two years of seeing your portfolio climb, watching it shrink for an entire calendar year tests your commitment in a way that a quick V-shaped crash (like 2020) does not. There was no dramatic recovery to wait for – just month after month of red.

This was the year that separated long-term investors from fair-weather ones. If you kept dollar-cost averaging through 2022, you were buying XEQT at depressed prices. Those purchases looked brilliant by the end of 2023.

2023: The AI-Powered Recovery (~+18%)

2023 felt like exhaling after holding your breath for a year. Markets bounced back hard, driven in large part by excitement around artificial intelligence. The “Magnificent Seven” US tech stocks (Apple, Microsoft, Google, Amazon, Nvidia, Meta, Tesla) dominated headlines and pulled indexes higher.

XEQT returned approximately +18% for the year. The US portion of the portfolio did most of the heavy lifting, but international markets also contributed positively. The Bank of Canada paused its rate hikes, signaling that the worst of the tightening cycle might be over.

For anyone who held through 2022 and kept buying, 2023 was vindication. The investors who panic-sold in late 2022 – thinking things would get worse – missed one of the strongest recovery years in recent memory.

2024: The Surge Continues (~+25%)

2024 was, frankly, a spectacular year for equity investors. Central banks around the world began cutting interest rates as inflation moderated. The economic “soft landing” that many had predicted (and just as many had doubted) appeared to be materializing. Corporate earnings were strong. Consumer spending held up.

XEQT delivered approximately +25% – one of its best full-year returns since inception. US markets led the charge, but broad-based gains across Canadian, international, and even emerging markets meant the whole portfolio was working.

By the end of 2024, anyone who had been dollar-cost averaging into XEQT since its inception was sitting on substantial gains. The compounding was starting to accelerate. Portfolios that had felt stagnant during 2022 were now pushing to new all-time highs.

2025: A More Modest Year (~+10%)

After two blockbuster years, 2025 brought markets back to earth somewhat. Returns were positive but more moderate – roughly +10% for XEQT. The year was marked by trade tensions, tariff concerns, and uncertainty about the pace of future interest rate cuts.

This was a “boring” year in the best possible sense. No crashes. No euphoria. Just steady, moderate growth that compounded on top of the gains from previous years. The kind of year that doesn’t make headlines but quietly builds wealth.

Some investors were disappointed after the 25% surge of 2024. “Only 10%?” they said. But a 10% return on a growing portfolio is still an excellent year by any historical standard. The S&P 500’s long-term average is roughly 10% per year. XEQT matching that is doing exactly what it’s supposed to do.

What Average Annual Return Should You Expect?

Based on the data above, XEQT’s average annual return since inception (approximately six and a half years) works out to roughly 11-12% in CAD terms. That’s above the long-term historical average for global equities, which is closer to 8-9% nominal.

Going forward, most financial planners suggest using a 7-8% average annual return for long-term planning with a 100% equity portfolio. This is a reasonable, slightly conservative estimate that accounts for the fact that recent returns have been above average.

Here’s the critical thing to understand: average annual returns are misleading in isolation. XEQT has never actually returned “11% in a year.” It returned +21%, then -11%, then +18%, then +25%, then +10%. The average smooths out what is, in reality, a very bumpy ride.

If you’re the kind of person who checks their portfolio daily, those bumps will feel enormous. If you’re the kind of person who checks once a quarter and focuses on contributions, the bumps barely register. The number that matters is the cumulative return over your full investing horizon – and for XEQT, that number has been excellent.

Why Any Single Year’s Return Doesn’t Matter

I want to hammer this point home because it’s the most important takeaway from this entire page.

If you had invested $10,000 in XEQT at the start of 2022, your year-end balance would have been roughly $8,900. You would have “lost” $1,100 in a year. That feels terrible.

But if you held for one more year through 2023, your balance would have recovered to roughly $10,500. And if you held through 2024 as well, you’d be sitting at approximately $13,100. In two years, you went from a painful loss to a 31% gain.

This is how compounding works. The bad years are the price of admission for the good years. You cannot have the +25% without enduring the -11%. They come as a package deal.

The investors who try to dodge the bad years by moving to cash invariably miss the good years that follow. Research consistently shows that missing even the 10 best trading days in a decade can cut your returns in half. And those best days almost always come right after the worst days – when fear is at its peak and most people are sitting on the sidelines.

The strategy that works is the boring one: buy XEQT regularly, reinvest distributions, and stay the course regardless of what the market does in any given year. The data on this page proves that approach has worked for every single year since XEQT launched.

Looking Forward

XEQT has only existed since August 2019, which means its full track record covers about six and a half years. That’s a meaningful sample – it includes a pandemic crash, a bear market, an AI-fueled rally, and a trade war – but it’s still a relatively short period in investing terms.

The good news is that XEQT’s underlying strategy – owning a globally diversified, market-cap-weighted portfolio of equities – has a much longer track record. Global equity markets have returned roughly 8-10% per year over the past 100+ years. XEQT is just a convenient, low-cost wrapper around that strategy.

Nobody knows what XEQT will return in 2026 or 2027. It could be +30%. It could be -20%. It could be flat. What we do know is that over long periods – 10, 20, 30 years – the stock market has rewarded patient investors who stayed invested and kept contributing. That’s the bet you’re making when you buy XEQT, and it’s one of the best bets available.