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Should You Invest in the Industrial Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLI)?

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Looking for broad exposure to the Industrials - Broad segment of the equity market? You should consider the Industrial Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLI - Free Report) , a passively managed exchange traded fund launched on 12/16/1998.

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. Industrials - Broad is one of the 16 broad Zacks sectors within the Zacks Industry classification. It is currently ranked 2, placing it in top 13%.

Index Details

The fund is sponsored by State Street Global Advisors. It has amassed assets over $13.13 billion, making it the largest ETF attempting to match the performance of the Industrials - Broad segment of the equity market. XLI seeks to match the performance of the Industrial Select Sector Index before fees and expenses.

The Industrial Select Sector Index includes companies from the following industries: industrial conglomerates; aerospace & defense; machinery; air freight & logistics; road & rail; commercial services & supplies; electrical equipment; construction & engineering; building products; airlines; and trading companies & distributors.

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 0.10%, making it one of the least expensive products in the space.

It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 1.68%.

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 Industrials sector--about 100% of the portfolio.

Looking at individual holdings, Raytheon Technologies Corporation (RTX - Free Report) accounts for about 5.02% of total assets, followed by United Parcel Service Inc. Class B (UPS - Free Report) and Honeywell International Inc. (HON - Free Report) .

The top 10 holdings account for about 37.27% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

So far this year, XLI has gained about 1.17%, and is up about 8.08% in the last one year (as of 05/16/2023). During this past 52-week period, the fund has traded between $82.84 and $103.67.

The ETF has a beta of 1.11 and standard deviation of 20.35% for the trailing three-year period, making it a medium risk choice in the space. With about 76 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Alternatives

Industrial Select Sector SPDR 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, XLI is a reasonable option for those seeking exposure to the Industrials ETFs area of the market. Investors might also want to consider some other ETF options in the space.

First Trust Industrials/Producer Durables AlphaDEX ETF (FXR - Free Report) tracks StrataQuant Industrials Index and the Vanguard Industrials ETF (VIS - Free Report) tracks MSCI US Investable Market Industrials 25/50 Index. First Trust Industrials/Producer Durables AlphaDEX ETF has $1.56 billion in assets, Vanguard Industrials ETF has $3.76 billion. FXR has an expense ratio of 0.61% and VIS charges 0.10%.

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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