Still Ignored, Still Outperforming

Over the past few weeks, it seems like every ETF pundit and his sister has been hopping on the healthcare ETF bandwagon. Hey, that bullish outlook on healthcare ETFs has been justified by the returns. There's no arguing that.Not to mention, this volatile market has made seeking refuge with conservative healthcare names a fine idea. No one is going to quibble with the nearly 10% the iShares Dow Jones US Healthcare Provider Index Fund (NYSE: IHF) has returned in the past three months.You can probably live with the 8% offered by the Vanguard Healthcare ETF (NYSE: VHT) or the 6% returned by the Healthcare Select Sector SPDR (NYSE: XLV) in that time. Or you can wonder why no one has been touting the iShares Dow Jones US Medical Devices ETF (NYSE: IHI). It's a good question to ask becuase IHI has outperformed the aforementioned trio in the past three months. In fact, we touted IHI on Feb. 16, saying there was "more in the tank" for the medical devices ETF. We followed that up on March 14 by saying IHI was a candidate to buy on a dip.IHI isn't going to deliver the potential for rapid near-term gains the way the SPDR S&P Biotech ETF (NYSE: XBI) and the iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (Nasdaq: IBB) do, but year-to-date, IHI has performed in line with XBI and slightly outperformed IBB. All that with far fewer risks than the biotech space so frequently presents.IHI is a fine example of why investing isn't a popularity contest. The ETF isn't the coolest kid at the party, but it sure is generating nice returns.