Looking for broad exposure to the Healthcare - Medical Devices segment of the equity market? You should consider the SPDR S&P Health Care Equipment ETF (XHE Quick QuoteXHE - 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.

Additionally, sector ETFs offer convenient 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 10, placing it in bottom 38%.

Index Details

The fund is sponsored by State Street Global Advisors. It has amassed assets over $828.20 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

Since cheaper funds tend to produce better results than more expensive funds, assuming all other factors remain equal, it is important for investors to pay attention to an ETF's expense ratio.

Annual operating expenses for this ETF are 0.35%, making it one of the cheaper products in the space.

Sector Exposure and Top Holdings

ETFs offer a diversified exposure and thus minimize single stock risk but it is still important to delve into a fund's holdings before investing. Most ETFs are very transparent products and many 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 Quick QuoteTMDX - Free Report) accounts for about 1.46% of total assets, followed by Biolife Solutions Inc. (BLFS Quick QuoteBLFS - Free Report) and Lantheus Holdings Inc .

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

Performance and Risk

Year-to-date, the SPDR S&P Health Care Equipment ETF has added roughly 16.11% so far, and was up about 29.66% over the last 12 months (as of 11/05/2021). XHE has traded between $102.56 and $133.34 in this past 52-week period.

The ETF has a beta of 0.91 and standard deviation of 24.56% 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 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, XHE is an excellent 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 Indxx Medical Devices ETF (MDEV Quick QuoteMDEV - Free Report) tracks INDXX GLOBAL MEDICAL EQUIPMENT INDEX and the iShares U.S. Medical Devices ETF (IHI Quick QuoteIHI - Free Report) tracks Dow Jones U.S. Select Medical Equipment Index. First Trust Indxx Medical Devices ETF has $3.99 million in assets, iShares U.S. Medical Devices ETF has $8.88 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.