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Should State Street SPDR Portfolio S&P 500 ETF (SPYM) Be on Your Investing Radar?

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Looking for broad exposure to the Large Cap Blend segment of the US equity market? You should consider the State Street SPDR Portfolio S&P 500 ETF (SPYM - Free Report) , a passively managed exchange traded fund launched on November 8, 2005.

The fund is sponsored by State Street Investment Management. It has amassed assets over $96.06 billion, making it one of the largest ETFs attempting to match the Large Cap Blend segment of the US equity market.

Why Large Cap Blend

Large cap companies typically have a market capitalization above $10 billion. They tend to be stable companies with predictable cash flows and are usually less volatile than mid and small cap companies.

Blend ETFs are aptly named, since they tend to hold a mix of growth and value stocks, as well as show characteristics of both kinds of equities.

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 0.02%, making it one of the least expensive products in the space.

It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 1.14%.

Sector Exposure and Top Holdings

While ETFs offer diversified exposure, which minimizes single stock risk, a deep look into a fund's holdings is a valuable exercise. And, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.

This ETF has heaviest allocation to the Information Technology sector -- about 34.9% of the portfolio. Financials and Consumer Discretionary round out the top three.

Looking at individual holdings, Nvidia Corp (NVDA) accounts for about 8.46% of total assets, followed by Apple Inc (AAPL) and Microsoft Corp (MSFT).

The top 10 holdings account for about 40.09% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

SPYM seeks to match the performance of the S&P 500 INDEX before fees and expenses. The S&P 500 Index is designed to measure the performance of the large-capitalization segment of the U.S. equity market.

The ETF has added about 202.68% so far this year. In the past 52-week period, it has traded between $25.97 and $80.39.

The ETF has a beta of 1.00 and standard deviation of 246.28% for the trailing three-year period. With about 509 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Alternatives

State Street SPDR Portfolio S&P 500 ETF holds a Zacks ETF Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on expected asset class return, expense ratio, and momentum, among other factors. Because of this, SPYM is an excellent option for investors seeking exposure to the Style Box - Large Cap Blend segment of the market. There are other additional ETFs in the space that investors could consider as well.

The iShares Core S&P 500 ETF (IVV) and the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO) track a similar index. While iShares Core S&P 500 ETF has $722.59 billion in assets, Vanguard S&P 500 ETF has $792.57 billion. IVV has an expense ratio of 0.03% and VOO charges 0.03%.

Bottom-Line

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.

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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