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Is State Street SPDR S&P Insurance ETF (KIE) a Strong ETF Right Now?
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The State Street SPDR S&P Insurance ETF (KIE - Free Report) made its debut on 11/08/2005, and is a smart beta exchange traded fund that provides broad exposure to the Financials ETFs category of the market.
What Are Smart Beta ETFs?
The ETF industry has long been dominated by products based on market cap weighted indexes, a strategy created to reflect the market or a particular market segment.
Because market cap weighted indexes provide a low-cost, convenient, and transparent way of replicating market returns, they work well for investors who believe in market efficiency.
If you're the kind of investor who would rather try and beat the market through good stock selection, then smart beta funds are your best choice; this fund class is known for tracking non-cap weighted strategies.
Based on specific fundamental characteristics, or a combination of such, these indexes attempt to pick stocks that have a better chance of risk-return performance.
This area offers many different investment choices, such as simplest equal-weighting, fundamental weighting and volatility/momentum based weighting methodologies; however, not all of these strategies can deliver superior results.
Fund Sponsor & Index
Managed by State Street Investment Management, KIE has amassed assets over $635.06 million, making it one of the average sized ETFs in the Financials ETFs. KIE seeks to match the performance of the S&P Insurance Select Industry Index before fees and expenses.
The S&P Insurance Select Industry Index represents the insurance segment of the S&P Total Market Index.
Cost & Other Expenses
For ETF investors, expense ratios are an important factor when considering a fund's return; in the long-term, cheaper funds actually have the ability to outperform their more expensive cousins if all other things remain the same.
Operating expenses on an annual basis are 0.35% for this ETF, which makes it one of the least expensive products in the space.
It's 12-month trailing dividend yield comes in at 1.56%.
Sector Exposure and Top Holdings
It is important to delve into an ETF's holdings before investing despite the many upsides to these kinds of funds like diversified exposure, which minimizes single stock risk. And, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.
KIE's heaviest allocation is in the Financials sector, which is about 100% of the portfolio.
When you look at individual holdings, Kinsale Capital Group Inc (KNSL) accounts for about 2.08% of the fund's total assets, followed by White Mountains Insurance Gp (WTM) and Ryan Specialty Holdings Inc (RYAN).
KIE's top 10 holdings account for about 20.11% of its total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
Year-to-date, the State Street SPDR S&P Insurance ETF has added roughly 6.55% so far, and is down about -2.35% over the last 12 months (as of 12/02/2025). KIE has traded between $53.63 $61.17 in this past 52-week period.
The fund has a beta of 0.75 and standard deviation of 17.14% for the trailing three-year period, which makes KIE a medium risk choice in this particular space. With about 55 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk .
Alternatives
State Street SPDR S&P Insurance ETF is a reasonable option for investors seeking to outperform the Financials ETFs segment of the market. However, there are other ETFs in the space which investors could consider.
Invesco KBW Property & Casualty Insurance ETF (KBWP) tracks KBW Nasdaq Property & Casualty Index and the iShares U.S. Insurance ETF (IAK) tracks Dow Jones U.S. Select Insurance Index. Invesco KBW Property & Casualty Insurance ETF has $410.32 million in assets, iShares U.S. Insurance ETF has $508.98 million. KBWP has an expense ratio of 0.35% and IAK changes 0.38%.
Investors looking for cheaper and lower-risk options should consider traditional market cap weighted ETFs that aim to match the returns of the Financials ETFs
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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Is State Street SPDR S&P Insurance ETF (KIE) a Strong ETF Right Now?
The State Street SPDR S&P Insurance ETF (KIE - Free Report) made its debut on 11/08/2005, and is a smart beta exchange traded fund that provides broad exposure to the Financials ETFs category of the market.
What Are Smart Beta ETFs?
The ETF industry has long been dominated by products based on market cap weighted indexes, a strategy created to reflect the market or a particular market segment.
Because market cap weighted indexes provide a low-cost, convenient, and transparent way of replicating market returns, they work well for investors who believe in market efficiency.
If you're the kind of investor who would rather try and beat the market through good stock selection, then smart beta funds are your best choice; this fund class is known for tracking non-cap weighted strategies.
Based on specific fundamental characteristics, or a combination of such, these indexes attempt to pick stocks that have a better chance of risk-return performance.
This area offers many different investment choices, such as simplest equal-weighting, fundamental weighting and volatility/momentum based weighting methodologies; however, not all of these strategies can deliver superior results.
Fund Sponsor & Index
Managed by State Street Investment Management, KIE has amassed assets over $635.06 million, making it one of the average sized ETFs in the Financials ETFs. KIE seeks to match the performance of the S&P Insurance Select Industry Index before fees and expenses.
The S&P Insurance Select Industry Index represents the insurance segment of the S&P Total Market Index.
Cost & Other Expenses
For ETF investors, expense ratios are an important factor when considering a fund's return; in the long-term, cheaper funds actually have the ability to outperform their more expensive cousins if all other things remain the same.
Operating expenses on an annual basis are 0.35% for this ETF, which makes it one of the least expensive products in the space.
It's 12-month trailing dividend yield comes in at 1.56%.
Sector Exposure and Top Holdings
It is important to delve into an ETF's holdings before investing despite the many upsides to these kinds of funds like diversified exposure, which minimizes single stock risk. And, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.
KIE's heaviest allocation is in the Financials sector, which is about 100% of the portfolio.
When you look at individual holdings, Kinsale Capital Group Inc (KNSL) accounts for about 2.08% of the fund's total assets, followed by White Mountains Insurance Gp (WTM) and Ryan Specialty Holdings Inc (RYAN).
KIE's top 10 holdings account for about 20.11% of its total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
Year-to-date, the State Street SPDR S&P Insurance ETF has added roughly 6.55% so far, and is down about -2.35% over the last 12 months (as of 12/02/2025). KIE has traded between $53.63 $61.17 in this past 52-week period.
The fund has a beta of 0.75 and standard deviation of 17.14% for the trailing three-year period, which makes KIE a medium risk choice in this particular space. With about 55 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk .
Alternatives
State Street SPDR S&P Insurance ETF is a reasonable option for investors seeking to outperform the Financials ETFs segment of the market. However, there are other ETFs in the space which investors could consider.
Invesco KBW Property & Casualty Insurance ETF (KBWP) tracks KBW Nasdaq Property & Casualty Index and the iShares U.S. Insurance ETF (IAK) tracks Dow Jones U.S. Select Insurance Index. Invesco KBW Property & Casualty Insurance ETF has $410.32 million in assets, iShares U.S. Insurance ETF has $508.98 million. KBWP has an expense ratio of 0.35% and IAK changes 0.38%.
Investors looking for cheaper and lower-risk options should consider traditional market cap weighted ETFs that aim to match the returns of the Financials ETFs
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.