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

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If you're interested in broad exposure to the Technology - Software segment of the equity market, look no further than the SPDR S&P Software & Services ETF (XSW - Free Report) , a passively managed exchange traded fund launched on 09/28/2011.

Retail and institutional investors increasingly turn to passively managed ETFs because they offer low costs, transparency, flexibility, and tax efficiency; these kind of funds 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. Technology - Software is one of the 16 broad Zacks sectors within the Zacks Industry classification. It is currently ranked 6, placing it in top 38%.

Index Details

The fund is sponsored by State Street Global Advisors. It has amassed assets over $468.47 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 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 Information Technology sector--about 96.20% of the portfolio.

Looking at individual holdings, D Wave Quantum Inc (QBTS - Free Report) accounts for about 1.10% of total assets, followed by Solarwinds Corp (SWI - Free Report) and Palantir Technologies Inc A (PLTR - Free Report) .

The top 10 holdings account for about 9.64% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

Year-to-date, the SPDR S&P Software & Services ETF has lost about -12.88% so far, and is up about 9.10% over the last 12 months (as of 04/03/2025). XSW has traded between $141.27 and $204.72 in this past 52-week period.

The ETF has a beta of 1.20 and standard deviation of 28.06% for the trailing three-year period, making it a high risk choice in the space. With about 145 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Alternatives

SPDR S&P Software & Services 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, XSW is an outstanding 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 $390.72 million in assets, iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF has $10.16 billion. IGPT has an expense ratio of 0.58% 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.

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