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Should You Invest in the Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLF)?

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Launched on 12/16/1998, the Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLF - Free Report) is a passively managed exchange traded fund designed to provide a broad exposure to the Financials - Broad segment of the equity market.

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 also provide investors access to a broad group of companies in particular sectors that offer low risk and diversified exposure. Financials - Broad is one of the 16 broad Zacks sectors within the Zacks Industry classification. It is currently ranked 2, placing it in top 13%.

Index Details

The fund is sponsored by State Street Global Advisors. It has amassed assets over $44.18 billion, making it the largest ETF attempting to match the performance of the Financials - Broad segment of the equity market. XLF seeks to match the performance of the Financial Select Sector Index before fees and expenses.

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

Costs

When considering an ETF's total return, expense ratios are an important factor, and cheaper funds can significantly outperform their more expensive counterparts in the long term if all other factors remain equal.

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 1.46%.

Sector Exposure and Top Holdings

While ETFs offer diversified exposure, which minimizes single stock risk, a deep look into a fund's holdings is a valuable exercise. And, 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, Berkshire Hathaway Inc Cl B (BRK.B - Free Report) accounts for about 13.32% of total assets, followed by Jpmorgan Chase + Co (JPM - Free Report) and Visa Inc Class A Shares (V - Free Report) .

The top 10 holdings account for about 54.21% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

Year-to-date, the Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF has gained about 19.99% so far, and it's up approximately 33.73% over the last 12 months (as of 08/28/2024). XLF has traded between $31.45 and $44.80 in this past 52-week period.

The ETF has a beta of 1.06 and standard deviation of 18.85% for the trailing three-year period, making it a medium risk choice in the space. With about 75 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Alternatives

Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF holds a Zacks ETF Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on expected asset class return, expense ratio, and momentum, among other factors. Because of this, XLF is an outstanding option for investors seeking exposure to the Financials ETFs segment of the market. There are other additional ETFs in the space that investors could consider as well.

IShares U.S. Financials ETF (IYF - Free Report) tracks Dow Jones U.S. Financials Index and the Vanguard Financials ETF (VFH - Free Report) tracks MSCI US Investable Market Financials 25/50 Index. IShares U.S. Financials ETF has $3.14 billion in assets, Vanguard Financials ETF has $10.10 billion. IYF has an expense ratio of 0.40% and VFH charges 0.10%.

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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