Back to top

Image: Bigstock

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

Read MoreHide Full Article

If you're interested in broad exposure to the Healthcare - Pharma segment of the equity market, look no further than the SPDR S&P Pharmaceuticals ETF (XPH - Free Report) , a passively managed exchange traded fund launched on 06/19/2006.

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 - Pharma is one of the 16 broad Zacks sectors within the Zacks Industry classification. It is currently ranked 5, placing it in top 31%.

Index Details

The fund is sponsored by State Street Global Advisors. It has amassed assets over $230.51 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

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 1.74%.

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, Eli Lilly And Company (LLY - Free Report) accounts for about 4.74% of total assets, followed by Royalty Pharma Plc Class A (RPRX - Free Report) and Jazz Pharmaceuticals Public Limited Company (JAZZ - Free Report) .

The top 10 holdings account for about 43.84% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

Year-to-date, the SPDR S&P Pharmaceuticals ETF has added roughly 2.93% so far, and is up about 8.75% over the last 12 months (as of 06/21/2023). XPH has traded between $39.10 and $44.52 in this past 52-week period.

The ETF has a beta of 0.84 and standard deviation of 21.12% for the trailing three-year period, making it a high risk choice in the space. With about 42 holdings, it has more concentrated exposure than peers.

Alternatives

SPDR S&P Pharmaceuticals ETF sports a Zacks ETF Rank of 4 (Sell), which is based on expected asset class return, expense ratio, and momentum, among other factors. XPH, then, is not a suitable option for investors seeking exposure to the Health Care ETFs segment of the market. Instead, there are better ETFs in the space to consider.

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 $386.08 million in assets, VanEck Pharmaceutical ETF has $408.14 million. IHE has an expense ratio of 0.39% and PPH charges 0.36%.

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.

Published in