Though it may be hard to do, we need to shift our attention away from the twisted wreckage within the energy sector for a second.

That's because, as 2014 winds to an end, investors need to make a plan for 2015. And in order to formulate a strategy, we need to reflect on the past year.

Thus, I've taken a look back to see where the “hot money” was flowing. If we want to poach the investing herd in 2015, then we'll have to identify the most popular trades.

Analyzing exchange-traded fund (ETF) flows is a great way to do this and can help us avoid overly crowded trades going forward.

Here are some of the hottest ETF trends in 2014:

1. The Year of the S&P 500

It's certainly been a tough year for active managers, and the fund flows echo this difficult stock-picking environment.

Year to date, three of the top seven ETFs with the largest fund inflows are S&P 500 Index tracking funds: the iShares Core S&P500 (IVV), Vanguard S&P 500 (VOO), and SPDR S&P 500 (SPY).

Cumulatively, inflows for these funds total nearly $26 billion this year, slightly lower than last year's $29 billion.

2. Euro Hedged Equity Is All the Rage

Everyone hates the euro. So naturally, two of the fastest growing ETFs in 2014 provide exposure to European equities but hedge the exposure to the euro.

Introduced in October 2013, the Deutsche X-trackers MSCI Europe Hedged Equity (DBEU) grew rapidly in 2014, going from under $10 million in assets to nearly $700 million today.

The WisdomTree Europe Hedged Equity ETF (HEDJ) actually experienced the ninth-largest fund inflow of all ETFs in 2014, totaling $4.4 billion.

The popularity of these euro-hedged funds is reminiscent of the gravitational pull of the WisdomTree Japan Hedged Equity Fund (DXJ) in 2013. Year to date, the DXJ has slightly underperformed the S&P 500, but with dramatically larger drawdowns and higher volatility.