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Is SPDR S&P Regional Banking ETF (KRE) a Strong ETF Right Now?
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The SPDR S&P Regional Banking ETF (KRE - Free Report) made its debut on 06/19/2006, and is a smart beta exchange traded fund that provides broad exposure to the Financials ETFs category of the market.
What Are Smart Beta ETFs?
For a long time now, the ETF industry has been flooded with products based on market capitalization weighted indexes, which are designed to represent the broader market or a particular market segment.
Because market cap weighted indexes provide a low-cost, convenient, and transparent way of replicating market returns, they work well for investors who believe in market efficiency.
However, some investors believe in the possibility of beating the market through exceptional stock selection, and choose a different type of fund that tracks non-cap weighted strategies: smart beta.
These indexes attempt to select stocks that have better chances of risk-return performance, based on certain fundamental characteristics or a combination of such characteristics.
The smart beta space gives investors many different choices, from equal-weighting, one of the simplest strategies, to more complicated ones like fundamental and volatility/momentum based weighting. However, not all of these methodologies have been able to deliver remarkable returns.
Fund Sponsor & Index
The fund is managed by State Street Global Advisors. KRE has been able to amass assets over $3.03 billion, making it one of the largest ETFs in the Financials ETFs. This particular fund seeks to match the performance of the S&P Regional Banks Select Industry Index before fees and expenses.
The S&P Regional Banks Select Industry Index represents the regional banks segment of the S&P Total Market Index.
Cost & Other Expenses
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 KRE are 0.35%, which makes it one of the least expensive products in the space.
KRE's 12-month trailing dividend yield is 2.78%.
Sector Exposure and Top Holdings
Even though ETFs offer diversified exposure which minimizes single stock risk, it is still important to look into a fund's holdings before investing. Luckily, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.
This ETF has heaviest allocation in the Financials sector - about 100% of the portfolio.
Looking at individual holdings, M + T Bank Corp (MTB - Free Report) accounts for about 2.64% of total assets, followed by Citizens Financial Group (CFG - Free Report) and Western Alliance Bancorp (WAL - Free Report) .
Its top 10 holdings account for approximately 24.9% of KRE's total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
Year-to-date, the SPDR S&P Regional Banking ETF return is roughly 9.69% so far, and was up about 32.90% over the last 12 months (as of 07/18/2024). KRE has traded between $38.57 and $56.74 in this past 52-week period.
The fund has a beta of 1.08 and standard deviation of 30.75% for the trailing three-year period, which makes KRE a high risk choice in this particular space. With about 142 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.
Alternatives
SPDR S&P Regional Banking ETF is not a suitable option for investors seeking to outperform the Financials ETFs segment of the market. Instead, there are other ETFs in the space which investors should consider.
Invesco KBW Regional Banking ETF (KBWR - Free Report) tracks KBW Nasdaq Regional Banking Index and the iShares U.S. Regional Banks ETF (IAT - Free Report) tracks Dow Jones U.S. Select Regional Banks Index. Invesco KBW Regional Banking ETF has $57.02 million in assets, iShares U.S. Regional Banks ETF has $640.05 million. KBWR has an expense ratio of 0.35% and IAT charges 0.40%.
Investors looking for cheaper and lower-risk options should consider traditional market cap weighted ETFs that aim to match the returns of the Financials ETFs.
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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Is SPDR S&P Regional Banking ETF (KRE) a Strong ETF Right Now?
The SPDR S&P Regional Banking ETF (KRE - Free Report) made its debut on 06/19/2006, and is a smart beta exchange traded fund that provides broad exposure to the Financials ETFs category of the market.
What Are Smart Beta ETFs?
For a long time now, the ETF industry has been flooded with products based on market capitalization weighted indexes, which are designed to represent the broader market or a particular market segment.
Because market cap weighted indexes provide a low-cost, convenient, and transparent way of replicating market returns, they work well for investors who believe in market efficiency.
However, some investors believe in the possibility of beating the market through exceptional stock selection, and choose a different type of fund that tracks non-cap weighted strategies: smart beta.
These indexes attempt to select stocks that have better chances of risk-return performance, based on certain fundamental characteristics or a combination of such characteristics.
The smart beta space gives investors many different choices, from equal-weighting, one of the simplest strategies, to more complicated ones like fundamental and volatility/momentum based weighting. However, not all of these methodologies have been able to deliver remarkable returns.
Fund Sponsor & Index
The fund is managed by State Street Global Advisors. KRE has been able to amass assets over $3.03 billion, making it one of the largest ETFs in the Financials ETFs. This particular fund seeks to match the performance of the S&P Regional Banks Select Industry Index before fees and expenses.
The S&P Regional Banks Select Industry Index represents the regional banks segment of the S&P Total Market Index.
Cost & Other Expenses
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 KRE are 0.35%, which makes it one of the least expensive products in the space.
KRE's 12-month trailing dividend yield is 2.78%.
Sector Exposure and Top Holdings
Even though ETFs offer diversified exposure which minimizes single stock risk, it is still important to look into a fund's holdings before investing. Luckily, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.
This ETF has heaviest allocation in the Financials sector - about 100% of the portfolio.
Looking at individual holdings, M + T Bank Corp (MTB - Free Report) accounts for about 2.64% of total assets, followed by Citizens Financial Group (CFG - Free Report) and Western Alliance Bancorp (WAL - Free Report) .
Its top 10 holdings account for approximately 24.9% of KRE's total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
Year-to-date, the SPDR S&P Regional Banking ETF return is roughly 9.69% so far, and was up about 32.90% over the last 12 months (as of 07/18/2024). KRE has traded between $38.57 and $56.74 in this past 52-week period.
The fund has a beta of 1.08 and standard deviation of 30.75% for the trailing three-year period, which makes KRE a high risk choice in this particular space. With about 142 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.
Alternatives
SPDR S&P Regional Banking ETF is not a suitable option for investors seeking to outperform the Financials ETFs segment of the market. Instead, there are other ETFs in the space which investors should consider.
Invesco KBW Regional Banking ETF (KBWR - Free Report) tracks KBW Nasdaq Regional Banking Index and the iShares U.S. Regional Banks ETF (IAT - Free Report) tracks Dow Jones U.S. Select Regional Banks Index. Invesco KBW Regional Banking ETF has $57.02 million in assets, iShares U.S. Regional Banks ETF has $640.05 million. KBWR has an expense ratio of 0.35% and IAT charges 0.40%.
Investors looking for cheaper and lower-risk options should consider traditional market cap weighted ETFs that aim to match the returns of the Financials ETFs.
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.