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Is State Street SPDR S&P Regional Banking ETF (KRE) a Strong ETF Right Now?
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Designed to provide broad exposure to the Financials ETFs category of the market, the State Street SPDR S&P Regional Banking ETF (KRE - Free Report) is a smart beta exchange traded fund launched on 06/19/2006.
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.
On the other hand, some investors who believe that it is possible to beat the market by superior stock selection opt to invest in another class of funds that track non-cap weighted strategies--popularly known as smart beta.
Non-cap weighted indexes try to choose stocks that have a better chance of risk-return performance, which is based on specific fundamental characteristics, or a mix of other 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 $5.1 billion, making it one of the largest ETFs in the Financials ETFs. Before fees and expenses, KRE 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
Cost is an important factor in selecting the right ETF, and cheaper funds can significantly outperform their more expensive cousins if all other fundamentals are the same.
Annual operating expenses for KRE are 0.35%, which makes it one of the least expensive products in the space.
It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 2.16%.
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.
KRE's heaviest allocation is in the Financials sector, which is about 100% of the portfolio.
Taking into account individual holdings, Popular Inc (BPOP) accounts for about 2.02% of the fund's total assets, followed by Cadence Bank (CADE) and Cullen/frost Bankers Inc (CFR).
The top 10 holdings account for about 19.58% of total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
The ETF has added roughly 13.61% so far this year and is up about 14.84% in the last one year (as of 02/09/2026). In the past 52-week period, it has traded between $48.81 and $73.63
The ETF has a beta of 0.90 and standard deviation of 31.46% for the trailing three-year period, making it a high risk choice in the space. With about 148 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 $53.98 million in assets, iShares U.S. Regional Banks ETF has $662.86 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?
Designed to provide broad exposure to the Financials ETFs category of the market, the State Street SPDR S&P Regional Banking ETF (KRE - Free Report) is a smart beta exchange traded fund launched on 06/19/2006.
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.
On the other hand, some investors who believe that it is possible to beat the market by superior stock selection opt to invest in another class of funds that track non-cap weighted strategies--popularly known as smart beta.
Non-cap weighted indexes try to choose stocks that have a better chance of risk-return performance, which is based on specific fundamental characteristics, or a mix of other 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 $5.1 billion, making it one of the largest ETFs in the Financials ETFs. Before fees and expenses, KRE 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
Cost is an important factor in selecting the right ETF, and cheaper funds can significantly outperform their more expensive cousins if all other fundamentals are the same.
Annual operating expenses for KRE are 0.35%, which makes it one of the least expensive products in the space.
It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 2.16%.
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.
KRE's heaviest allocation is in the Financials sector, which is about 100% of the portfolio.
Taking into account individual holdings, Popular Inc (BPOP) accounts for about 2.02% of the fund's total assets, followed by Cadence Bank (CADE) and Cullen/frost Bankers Inc (CFR).
The top 10 holdings account for about 19.58% of total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
The ETF has added roughly 13.61% so far this year and is up about 14.84% in the last one year (as of 02/09/2026). In the past 52-week period, it has traded between $48.81 and $73.63
The ETF has a beta of 0.90 and standard deviation of 31.46% for the trailing three-year period, making it a high risk choice in the space. With about 148 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 $53.98 million in assets, iShares U.S. Regional Banks ETF has $662.86 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.