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Should You Invest in the SPDR S&P Biotech ETF (XBI)?

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If you're interested in broad exposure to the Healthcare - Biotech segment of the equity market, look no further than the SPDR S&P Biotech ETF (XBI - Free Report) , a passively managed exchange traded fund launched on 01/31/2006.

While an excellent vehicle for long term investors, passively managed ETFs are a popular choice among institutional and retail investors due to their low costs, transparency, flexibility, and tax efficiency.

Additionally, sector ETFs offer convenient ways to gain low risk and diversified exposure to a broad group of companies in particular sectors. Healthcare - Biotech is one of the 16 broad Zacks sectors within the Zacks Industry classification. It is currently ranked 4, placing it in top 25%.

Index Details

The fund is sponsored by State Street Global Advisors. It has amassed assets over $7.58 billion, making it one of the largest ETFs attempting to match the performance of the Healthcare - Biotech segment of the equity market. XBI seeks to match the performance of the S&P Biotechnology Select Industry Index before fees and expenses.

The S&P Biotechnology Select Industry Index represents the biotechnology sub-industry portion of the S&P Total Markets Index. The S&P TMI tracks all the U.S. common stocks listed on the NYSE, AMEX, NASDAQ National Market and NASDAQ Small Cap exchanges. The Biotech 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 0.02%.

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 in the Healthcare sector--about 100% of the portfolio.

Looking at individual holdings, Immunogen Inc (IMGN) accounts for about 2.14% of total assets, followed by Tg Therapeutics Inc (TGTX - Free Report) and Mirati Therapeutics Inc (MRTX).

The top 10 holdings account for about 16.85% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

The ETF return is roughly 4.78% so far this year and it's up approximately 27.96% in the last one year (as of 03/25/2024). In that past 52-week period, it has traded between $64.12 and $102.89.

The ETF has a beta of 0.93 and standard deviation of 35.68% for the trailing three-year period, making it a high risk choice in the space. With about 135 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Alternatives

SPDR S&P Biotech 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, XBI is an outstanding option for investors seeking exposure to the Health Care ETFs segment of the market. There are other additional ETFs in the space that investors could consider as well.

First Trust NYSE Arca Biotechnology ETF (FBT - Free Report) tracks NYSE Arca Biotechnology Index and the iShares Biotechnology ETF (IBB - Free Report) tracks Nasdaq Biotechnology Index. First Trust NYSE Arca Biotechnology ETF has $1.19 billion in assets, iShares Biotechnology ETF has $7.64 billion. FBT has an expense ratio of 0.56% and IBB charges 0.45%.

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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