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Is State Street SPDR S&P Regional Banking ETF (KRE) a Strong ETF Right Now?
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The State Street SPDR S&P Regional Banking ETF (KRE - Free Report) made its debut on 06/19/2006, 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 traditionally been dominated by products based on market capitalization weighted indexes that are designed to represent the market or a particular segment of the market.
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.
This kind of index follows this same mindset, as it attempts to pick stocks that have better chances of risk-return performance; non-cap weighted strategies base selection on certain fundamental characteristics, or a mix of such characteristics.
While this space offers a number of choices to investors, including simplest equal-weighting, fundamental weighting and volatility/momentum based weighting methodologies, not all these strategies have been able to deliver superior results.
Fund Sponsor & Index
The fund is managed by State Street Investment Management. KRE has been able to amass assets over $3.44 billion, making it one of the larger ETFs in the Financials ETFs. KRE, before fees and expenses, seeks to match the performance of the S&P Regional Banks Select Industry Index.
The S&P Regional Banks Select Industry Index represents the regional banks segment of the S&P Total Market Index.
Cost & Other Expenses
When considering an ETF's total return, expense ratios are an important factor. And, cheaper funds can significantly outperform their more expensive cousins 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.
The fund has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 2.48%.
Sector Exposure and Top Holdings
Most ETFs are very transparent products, and disclose their holdings on a daily basis. ETFs also offer diversified exposure, which minimizes single stock risk, though it's still important for investors to research a fund's holdings.
Representing 100% of the portfolio, the fund has heaviest allocation to the Financials sector.
Taking into account individual holdings, Cadence Bank (CADE) accounts for about 2.16% of the fund's total assets, followed by First Horizon Corp (FHN) and Valley National Bancorp (VLY).
KRE's top 10 holdings account for about 20.25% of its total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
The ETF has added about 7.46% so far this year and is down about -3.64% in the last one year (as of 12/02/2025). In the past 52-week period, it has traded between $48.81 and $66.71
The fund has a beta of 0.96 and standard deviation of 31.63% for the trailing three-year period, which makes KRE a high risk choice in this particular space. With about 150 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk .
Alternatives
State Street SPDR S&P Regional Banking 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 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 $51.44 million in assets, iShares U.S. Regional Banks ETF has $543.71 million. KBWR has an expense ratio of 0.35% and IAT 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 Regional Banking ETF (KRE) a Strong ETF Right Now?
The State Street SPDR S&P Regional Banking ETF (KRE - Free Report) made its debut on 06/19/2006, 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 traditionally been dominated by products based on market capitalization weighted indexes that are designed to represent the market or a particular segment of the market.
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.
This kind of index follows this same mindset, as it attempts to pick stocks that have better chances of risk-return performance; non-cap weighted strategies base selection on certain fundamental characteristics, or a mix of such characteristics.
While this space offers a number of choices to investors, including simplest equal-weighting, fundamental weighting and volatility/momentum based weighting methodologies, not all these strategies have been able to deliver superior results.
Fund Sponsor & Index
The fund is managed by State Street Investment Management. KRE has been able to amass assets over $3.44 billion, making it one of the larger ETFs in the Financials ETFs. KRE, before fees and expenses, seeks to match the performance of the S&P Regional Banks Select Industry Index.
The S&P Regional Banks Select Industry Index represents the regional banks segment of the S&P Total Market Index.
Cost & Other Expenses
When considering an ETF's total return, expense ratios are an important factor. And, cheaper funds can significantly outperform their more expensive cousins 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.
The fund has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 2.48%.
Sector Exposure and Top Holdings
Most ETFs are very transparent products, and disclose their holdings on a daily basis. ETFs also offer diversified exposure, which minimizes single stock risk, though it's still important for investors to research a fund's holdings.
Representing 100% of the portfolio, the fund has heaviest allocation to the Financials sector.
Taking into account individual holdings, Cadence Bank (CADE) accounts for about 2.16% of the fund's total assets, followed by First Horizon Corp (FHN) and Valley National Bancorp (VLY).
KRE's top 10 holdings account for about 20.25% of its total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
The ETF has added about 7.46% so far this year and is down about -3.64% in the last one year (as of 12/02/2025). In the past 52-week period, it has traded between $48.81 and $66.71
The fund has a beta of 0.96 and standard deviation of 31.63% for the trailing three-year period, which makes KRE a high risk choice in this particular space. With about 150 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk .
Alternatives
State Street SPDR S&P Regional Banking 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 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 $51.44 million in assets, iShares U.S. Regional Banks ETF has $543.71 million. KBWR has an expense ratio of 0.35% and IAT 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.