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Should You Invest in the SPDR S&P Health Care Equipment ETF (XHE)?

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If you're interested in broad exposure to the Healthcare - Medical Devices segment of the equity market, look no further than the SPDR S&P Health Care Equipment ETF (XHE - Free Report) , a passively managed exchange traded fund launched on 01/26/2011.

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.

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. Healthcare - Medical Devices is one of the 16 broad Zacks sectors within the Zacks Industry classification. It is currently ranked 16, placing it in bottom 0%.

Index Details

The fund is sponsored by State Street Global Advisors. It has amassed assets over $773.77 million, making it one of the average sized ETFs attempting to match the performance of the Healthcare - Medical Devices segment of the equity market. XHE seeks to match the performance of the S&P Health Care Equipment Select Industry Index before fees and expenses.

This Index represents the health care equipment and supplies sector of the S&P Total Market Index. The Index is one of nineteen S&P Select Industry Indices, each designed to measure the performance of a narrow sub-industry or group of sub-industries as defined by the GICS.The Health Care 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 cheaper products in the space.

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 Healthcare sector--about 100% of the portfolio.

Looking at individual holdings, Transmedics Group Inc. (TMDX - Free Report) accounts for about 1.46% of total assets, followed by Biolife Solutions Inc. (BLFS - Free Report) and Lantheus Holdings Inc (LNTH - Free Report) .

The top 10 holdings account for about 13.82% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

So far this year, XHE return is roughly 8.48%, and is up about 28.61% in the last one year (as of 08/20/2021). During this past 52-week period, the fund has traded between $92.22 and $130.77.

The ETF has a beta of 0.96 and standard deviation of 24.71% for the trailing three-year period, making it a medium risk choice in the space. With about 87 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Alternatives

SPDR S&P Health Care Equipment ETF carries a Zacks ETF Rank of 3 (Hold), which is based on expected asset class return, expense ratio, and momentum, among other factors. Thus, XHE is a good option for those seeking exposure to the Health Care ETFs area of the market. Investors might also want to consider some other ETF options in the space.

First Trust Indxx Medical Devices ETF (MDEV - Free Report) tracks INDXX GLOBAL MEDICAL EQUIPMENT INDEX and the iShares U.S. Medical Devices ETF (IHI - Free Report) tracks Dow Jones U.S. Select Medical Equipment Index. First Trust Indxx Medical Devices ETF has $27.72 million in assets, iShares U.S. Medical Devices ETF has $8.33 billion. MDEV has an expense ratio of 0.70% and IHI 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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