If you're interested in broad exposure to the Financials - Regional Banks segment of the equity market, look no further than the SPDR S&P Regional Banking ETF (KRE Quick QuoteKRE - Free Report) , a passively managed exchange traded fund launched on June 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.

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. Financials - Regional Banks 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 Investment Management. It has amassed assets over $3.9 billion, making it one of the larger ETFs attempting to match the performance of the Financials - Regional Banks segment of the equity market. KRE seeks to match the performance of the S&P Regional Banks Select Industry Index before fees and expenses.

The S&P Regional Banks Select Industry Index represents the regional banks segment of the S&P Total Market Index.

Costs

Investors should also pay attention to an ETF's expense ratio. Lower cost products will produce better results than those with a higher cost, assuming all other metrics remain 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 2.49%.

Sector Exposure and Top Holdings

Even though ETFs offer diversified exposure which minimizes single stock risk, it is still important to look into a fund's holdings before investing. Luckily, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.

This ETF has heaviest allocation in the Financials sector -- about 100% of the portfolio.

Looking at individual holdings, Citizens Financial Group (CFG) accounts for about 2.78% of total assets, followed by Regions Financial Corp (RF) and Zions Bancorp Na (ZION).

The top 10 holdings account for about 25.91% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

The ETF return is roughly 7.07% and was up about 18.84% so far this year and in the past one year (as of 10/06/2025), respectively. KRE has traded between $48.81 and $68.9 during this last 52-week period.

The ETF has a beta of 0.90 and standard deviation of 31.62% for the trailing three-year period, making it a high risk choice in the space. With about 144 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Alternatives

SPDR S&P Regional Banking 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, KRE is a reasonable option for those seeking exposure to the Financials ETFs area of the market. Investors might also want to consider some other ETF options in the space.

Invesco KBW Regional Banking ETF (KBWR) tracks KBW Nasdaq Regional Banking Index and the iShares U.S. Regional Banks ETF (IAT) tracks Dow Jones U.S. Select Regional Banks Index. Invesco KBW Regional Banking ETF has $51.77 million in assets, iShares U.S. Regional Banks ETF has $667.59 million. KBWR has an expense ratio of 0.35%, and IAT charges 0.38%.

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.