All bets are off for 2020. We could talk about any number of potential growth catalysts or looming hurdles for the new year, but overshadowing them all is the chaos machine of the presidential election. The best ETFs to buy for 2020, as a result, are designed to take advantage of feasible political outcomes, calmly weather the storm or barrel forward regardless of what the new year brings.

That's no prophecy of utter doom and gloom, mind you. Indeed, there are plenty of pockets of optimism to be found.

2019's slowdown in worldwide economic growth might have kept stocks from roaring even louder than they did, but Morgan Stanley believes global GDP growth will rebound in 2020 - a potential driver for the market. FactSet, meanwhile, reports that the new year's estimated earnings growth rate for the S&P 500 Index should come in at 9.6%, which is above the 10-year average. (Analysts are even more confident, looking for profit growth "just over 10%," according to Kiplinger's 2020 investing outlook.)

That said, even the most hopeful of S&P 500 targets for 2020 call for roughly 10%-11% returns - most are closer to the 5%-7% range, and a few are calling for flat performance or worse. So while you do want to anchor your portfolio with a few broad, go-anywhere funds, many of the best ETFs for the year ahead will have to attack specific slices of the market.

Here are the 20 best ETFs to buy for 2020. This is an intentionally wide selection of ETFs that meet a number of different objectives. We don't suggest investors go out and stash each and every one of these funds in their portfolio; instead, read on and discover which well-built funds best match what you're trying to accomplish, from buy-and-hold income plays to high-risk, high-reward shots.

Vanguard S&P 500 ETF

Getty Images

In March 2019, S&P Dow Jones Indices released its annual report on actively managed funds and their performance against their benchmarks. For the ninth consecutive year, the majority of large-cap funds - 64.49%, to be specific - trailed the S&P 500.

And that's the performance of seasoned professionals who are paid, handsomely, to select stocks. It's ludicrous to expect better from mom-'n'-pop investors who might spend just an hour or two each month reviewing their accounts and researching new potential investments.

Simply matching the market is a respectable outcome.

You can do that with an S&P 500 index fund, and it doesn't get cheaper than the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO, $296.67).

This basic fund tracks the S&P 500, which is made up of 500 large, mostly U.S.-headquartered companies that trade on American exchanges. And because it captures a wide range of American industries, it's considered an excellent proxy for the U.S. stock market.

That doesn't mean VOO is a perfectly balanced fund. For instance, while the ETF includes stocks from all 11 market sectors, companies from the information technology sector command 23% of its assets. That includes Apple (AAPL) and Microsoft (MSFT), each of which holds a "weight" (the percentage of assets invested in the stock) of more than 4%. Still, like many Vanguard funds, VOO is dirt-cheap, and it does what it's supposed to do well.

Learn more about VOO at the Vanguard provider site.

Distillate U.S. Fundamental Stability & Value ETF

Getty Images

For 2019's best ETFs list, we highlighted a little-known, brand-new fund from Chicago-based fundamental value investment manager Distillate Capital: the Distillate U.S. Fundamental Stability & Value ETF (, $31.09), which launched on Oct. 23, 2018.