Designed to provide broad exposure to the Mid Cap Blend segment of the US equity market, the SPDR Portfolio S&P 400 Mid Cap ETF (SPMD Quick QuoteSPMD - Free Report) is a passively managed exchange traded fund launched on 11/08/2005.

The fund is sponsored by State Street Global Advisors. It has amassed assets over $12.27 billion, making it one of the larger ETFs attempting to match the Mid Cap Blend segment of the US equity market.

Why Mid Cap Blend

Mid cap companies, with market capitalization in the range of $2 billion and $10 billion, offer investors many things that small and large companies don't, including less risk and higher growth opportunities. Thus, companies that fall under this category provide a stable and growth-heavy investment.

Blend ETFs usually hold a mix of growth and value stocks as well as stocks that exhibit both value and growth characteristics.

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 0.03%, making it the least expensive products in the space.

It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 1.17%.

Sector Exposure and Top Holdings

Even though ETFs offer diversified exposure that minimizes single stock risk, investors should also look at the actual holdings inside the fund. Luckily, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.

This ETF has heaviest allocation to the Industrials sector--about 20.80% of the portfolio. Financials and Consumer Discretionary round out the top three.

Looking at individual holdings, Williams Sonoma Inc (WSM Quick QuoteWSM - Free Report) accounts for about 0.82% of total assets, followed by Interactive Brokers Gro Cl A (IBKR Quick QuoteIBKR - Free Report) and Expand Energy Corp (EXE Quick QuoteEXE - Free Report) .

The top 10 holdings account for about 6.47% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

SPMD seeks to match the performance of the S&P 1000 Index before fees and expenses. The S&P MidCap 400 Index combines the S&P MidCap 400 and the S&P SmallCap 600 to form an investable benchmark for the mid to small cap segment of the U.S. equity market.

The ETF has lost about -4.13% so far this year and is up about 3.02% in the last one year (as of 03/20/2025). In the past 52-week period, it has traded between $49.54 and $59.56.

The ETF has a beta of 1.13 and standard deviation of 19.44% for the trailing three-year period. With about 403 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Alternatives

SPDR Portfolio S&P 400 Mid Cap 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, SPMD is a good option for those seeking exposure to the Style Box - Mid Cap Blend area of the market. Investors might also want to consider some other ETF options in the space.

The Vanguard Mid-Cap ETF (VO Quick QuoteVO - Free Report) and the iShares Core S&P Mid-Cap ETF (IJH Quick QuoteIJH - Free Report) track a similar index. While Vanguard Mid-Cap ETF has $73.34 billion in assets, iShares Core S&P Mid-Cap ETF has $91.18 billion. VO has an expense ratio of 0.04% and IJH charges 0.05%.

Bottom-Line

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.

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.