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Should You Invest in the SPDR S&P Pharmaceuticals ETF (XPH)?

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Launched on 06/19/2006, the SPDR S&P Pharmaceuticals ETF (XPH - Free Report) is a passively managed exchange traded fund designed to provide a broad exposure to the Healthcare - Pharma segment of the equity market.

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 also provide investors access to a broad group of companies in particular sectors that offer low risk and diversified exposure. Healthcare - Pharma 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 $213.93 million, making it one of the average sized ETFs attempting to match the performance of the Healthcare - Pharma segment of the equity market. XPH seeks to match the performance of the S&P Pharmaceuticals Select Industry Index before fees and expenses.

The S&P Pharmaceuticals Select Industry Index represents the pharmaceuticals sub-industry portion of the S&P Total Markets Index. The S&P TMI tracks all the US common stocks listed on the NYSE, AMEX, NASDAQ National Market and NASDAQ Small Cap exchanges. The Pharmaceuticals Index is a modified equal weight index.

Costs

Cost is an important factor in selecting the right ETF, and cheaper funds can significantly outperform their more expensive counterparts if all other fundamentals are the same.

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 1.44%.

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, Organon & Co. (OGN - Free Report) accounts for about 6.09% of total assets, followed by Jazz Pharmaceuticals Public Limited Company (JAZZ - Free Report) and Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (BMY - Free Report) .

The top 10 holdings account for about 49.09% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

The ETF has lost about -5.59% and is down about -14.80% so far this year and in the past one year (as of 07/07/2022), respectively. XPH has traded between $38.15 and $53.10 during this last 52-week period.

The ETF has a beta of 0.92 and standard deviation of 25.68% for the trailing three-year period, making it a high risk choice in the space. With about 49 holdings, it has more concentrated exposure than peers.

Alternatives

SPDR S&P Pharmaceuticals 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, XPH is a reasonable 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.

IShares U.S. Pharmaceuticals ETF (IHE - Free Report) tracks Dow Jones U.S. Select Pharmaceuticals Index and the VanEck Pharmaceutical ETF (PPH - Free Report) tracks MVIS US Listed Pharmaceutical 25 Index. IShares U.S. Pharmaceuticals ETF has $437.40 million in assets, VanEck Pharmaceutical ETF has $587.36 million. IHE has an expense ratio of 0.42% and PPH charges 0.35%.

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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