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Should SPDR Portfolio S&P 400 Mid Cap ETF (SPMD) Be on Your Investing Radar?

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Launched on 11/08/2005, the SPDR Portfolio S&P 400 Mid Cap ETF (SPMD - Free Report) is a passively managed exchange traded fund designed to provide a broad exposure to the Mid Cap Blend segment of the US equity market.

The fund is sponsored by State Street Global Advisors. It has amassed assets over $10.63 billion, making it one of the larger ETFs attempting to match the Mid Cap Blend segment of the US equity market.

Why Mid Cap Blend

Mid cap companies have market capitalization between $2 billion and $10 billion. They usually have higher growth prospects than large cap companies and are less volatile than small cap companies. Thus, companies that fall under this category provide a stable and growth-heavy investment.

Blend ETFs are aptly named, since they tend to hold a mix of growth and value stocks, as well as show characteristics of both kinds of equities.

Costs

Cost is an important factor in selecting the right ETF, and cheaper funds can significantly outperform their more expensive counterparts if all other fundamentals are the same.

Annual operating expenses for this ETF are 0.03%, making it the least expensive products in the space.

It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 1.40%.

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 to the Industrials sector--about 21.50% of the portfolio. Financials and Consumer Discretionary round out the top three.

Looking at individual holdings, Illumina Inc (ILMN - Free Report) accounts for about 0.73% of total assets, followed by Carlisle Cos Inc (CSL - Free Report) and Williams Sonoma Inc (WSM - Free Report) .

The top 10 holdings account for about 6.49% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

SPMD seeks to match the performance of the S&P 1000 Index before fees and expenses. The S&P MidCap 400 Index combines the S&P MidCap 400 and the S&P SmallCap 600 to form an investable benchmark for the mid to small cap segment of the U.S. equity market.

The ETF has added roughly 8.29% so far this year and was up about 17.43% in the last one year (as of 09/13/2024). In the past 52-week period, it has traded between $40.76 and $54.56.

The ETF has a beta of 1.11 and standard deviation of 20.17% for the trailing three-year period. With about 403 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Alternatives

SPDR Portfolio S&P 400 Mid Cap 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, SPMD is a great option for investors seeking exposure to the Style Box - Mid Cap Blend segment of the market. There are other additional ETFs in the space that investors could consider as well.

The Vanguard Mid-Cap ETF (VO - Free Report) and the iShares Core S&P Mid-Cap ETF (IJH - Free Report) track a similar index. While Vanguard Mid-Cap ETF has $67.34 billion in assets, iShares Core S&P Mid-Cap ETF has $86.79 billion. VO has an expense ratio of 0.04% and IJH charges 0.05%.

Bottom-Line

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.

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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