Back to top

Image: Bigstock

Should You Invest in the SPDR S&P Software & Services ETF (XSW)?

Read MoreHide Full Article

Looking for broad exposure to the Technology - Software segment of the equity market? You should consider the SPDR S&P Software & Services ETF (XSW - Free Report) , a passively managed exchange traded fund launched on 09/28/2011.

Passively managed ETFs are becoming increasingly popular with institutional as well as retail investors due to their low cost, transparency, flexibility and tax efficiency. They are excellent vehicles for long term investors.

Investor-friendly, sector ETFs provide many options to gain low risk and diversified exposure to a broad group of companies in particular sectors. Technology - Software is one of the 16 broad Zacks sectors within the Zacks Industry classification. It is currently ranked 8, placing it in top 50%.

Index Details

The fund is sponsored by State Street Global Advisors. It has amassed assets over $365.95 million, making it one of the average sized ETFs attempting to match the performance of the Technology - Software segment of the equity market. XSW seeks to match the performance of the S&P Software & Services Select Industry Index before fees and expenses.

The S&P Software & Services Select Industry Index represents the software sub-industry portion of the S&P Total Stock Market Index. The S&P TMI tracks all the U.S. common stocks listed on the NYSE, AMEX, NASDAQ National Market and NASDAQ Global Select Market. The Software Index is a modified equal weight 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 0.35%, making it one of the least expensive products in the space.

It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 0.11%.

Sector Exposure and Top Holdings

Even though ETFs offer diversified exposure that minimizes single stock risk, investors should also look at the actual holdings inside the fund. Luckily, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.

This ETF has heaviest allocation in the Information Technology sector--about 97.10% of the portfolio.

Looking at individual holdings, Clear Secure Inc Class A (YOU - Free Report) accounts for about 1.20% of total assets, followed by Aurora Innovation Inc (AUR - Free Report) and Zeta Global Holdings Corp A (ZETA - Free Report) .

The top 10 holdings account for about 10.11% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

The ETF has added about 5.77% so far this year and is up about 25.90% in the last one year (as of 09/26/2024). In that past 52-week period, it has traded between $117.57 and $159.78.

The ETF has a beta of 1.13 and standard deviation of 28.99% for the trailing three-year period, making it a high risk choice in the space. With about 137 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Alternatives

SPDR S&P Software & Services 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, XSW is an excellent option for investors seeking exposure to the Technology ETFs segment of the market. There are other additional ETFs in the space that investors could consider as well.

Invesco AI and Next Gen Software ETF (IGPT - Free Report) tracks STOXX WORLD AC NEXGEN SOFTWARE DEV ID and the iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF (IGV - Free Report) tracks S&P North American Technology-Software Index. Invesco AI and Next Gen Software ETF has $393.42 million in assets, iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF has $6.94 billion. IGPT has an expense ratio of 0.60% and IGV charges 0.41%.

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.

Published in