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Should You Invest in the Materials Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLB)?

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If you're interested in broad exposure to the Materials - Broad segment of the equity market, look no further than the Materials Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLB - Free Report) , a passively managed exchange traded fund launched on 12/16/1998.

An increasingly popular option among retail and institutional investors, passively managed ETFs offer low costs, transparency, flexibility, and tax efficiency; they are also excellent vehicles for long term investors.

Sector ETFs are also funds of convenience, offering many ways to gain low risk and diversified exposure to a broad group of companies in particular sectors. Materials - Broad is one of the 16 broad Zacks sectors within the Zacks Industry classification. It is currently ranked 13, placing it in bottom 19%.

Index Details

The fund is sponsored by State Street Global Advisors. It has amassed assets over $5.82 billion, making it one of the largest ETFs attempting to match the performance of the Materials - Broad segment of the equity market. XLB seeks to match the performance of the Materials Select Sector Index before fees and expenses.

The Materials Select Sector Index seeks to provide an effective representation of the materials sector of the S&P 500 Index.

Costs

Since cheaper funds tend to produce better results than more expensive funds, assuming all other factors remain equal, it is important for investors to pay attention to an ETF's expense ratio.

Annual operating expenses for this ETF are 0.09%, making it one of the least expensive products in the space.

It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 1.87%.

Sector Exposure and Top Holdings

It is important to delve into an ETF's holdings before investing despite the many upsides to these kinds of funds like diversified exposure, which minimizes single stock risk. And, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.

This ETF has heaviest allocation in the Materials sector--about 100% of the portfolio.

Looking at individual holdings, Linde Plc (LIN - Free Report) accounts for about 20.58% of total assets, followed by Sherwin Williams Co/the (SHW - Free Report) and Freeport Mcmoran Inc (FCX - Free Report) .

The top 10 holdings account for about 65.83% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

The ETF has added roughly 7.23% and is up about 21.22% so far this year and in the past one year (as of 03/26/2024), respectively. XLB has traded between $74.46 and $91.94 during this last 52-week period.

The ETF has a beta of 1.09 and standard deviation of 19.52% for the trailing three-year period, making it a medium risk choice in the space. With about 32 holdings, it has more concentrated exposure than peers.

Alternatives

Materials Select Sector SPDR ETF holds a Zacks ETF Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on expected asset class return, expense ratio, and momentum, among other factors. Because of this, XLB is an outstanding option for investors seeking exposure to the Materials ETFs segment of the market. There are other additional ETFs in the space that investors could consider as well.

SPDR S&P Global Natural Resources ETF (GNR - Free Report) tracks S&P Global Natural Resources Index and the FlexShares Morningstar Global Upstream Natural Resources ETF (GUNR - Free Report) tracks Morningstar Global Upstream Natural Resources Index. SPDR S&P Global Natural Resources ETF has $3.47 billion in assets, FlexShares Morningstar Global Upstream Natural Resources ETF has $6.54 billion. GNR has an expense ratio of 0.40% and GUNR charges 0.46%.

Bottom Line

To learn more about this product and other ETFs, screen for products that match your investment objectives and read articles on latest developments in the ETF investing universe, please visit Zacks ETF Center.

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