The accompanying table (click to enlarge) includes a summary and statistics for the 25 healthcare exchange-traded funds (ETFs) which are currently on the market. The group posted a 23.5% loss over the past year on an equal-weight basis with an average of about $400M in net assets. However, the top eight ETFs by net assets account for 88.5% of all net assets for the entire group of 25, including Healthcare Sector SPDR (XLV), Pharma HOLDRs (PPH), iShares Nasdaq Biotech (IBB), Biotech HOLDRs (BBH), iShares Dow Jones U.S. Healthcare (IYH), iShares S&P Global Healthcare (IXJ), Vanguard Healthcare (VHT), and SPDR S&P Biotech (XBI).

Only BBH managed to post a gain over the past year thanks to a concentrated bet in the following three biotech blue chip companies: Genentech (DNA) (42.8%), Amgen (AMGN) (20.9%), and Gilead Sciences (GILD) (18.3%). Of the Biotech HOLDRs 14 positions, the top three account for over three-quarters of the fund's investments and just two other companies have meaningful weightings in BBH, including Biogen (BIIB) (8.1%) and Genzyme (GENZ) (5.6%).

Below are eight new ETF Innovators global healthcare indexes and product ideas, with a focus on small/mid-cap companies in health business segments which do not currently offer any exchange-traded products.

1.) Hospitals & Outpatient Care: The index includes companies with market caps of at least $150M which derive the majority of their revenue from any of the following activities: inpatient hospital services, emergency medical transport + care services, hospice services, skilled nursing services, rehabilitation care, physical therapy, eye care, dental care, hospitalist products + services, mental healthcare services, dialysis care, home healthcare services, and outpatient medical care facilities. All activities related to retirement communities and assisted living facilities are excluded from this index.

2.) Pet Care & Animal 'Farma': Favorable trends for this industry include:

a.) Pet spending in the U.S.