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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) was launched on 11/08/2005, and is a smart beta exchange traded fund designed to offer broad exposure to the Financials ETFs category of the market.
What Are Smart Beta ETFs?
For a long time now, the ETF industry has been flooded with products based on market capitalization weighted indexes, which are designed to represent the broader market or a particular market segment.
A good option for investors who believe in market efficiency, market cap weighted indexes offer a low-cost, convenient, and transparent way of replicating market returns.
However, some investors believe in the possibility of beating the market through exceptional stock selection, and choose a different type of fund that tracks non-cap weighted strategies: 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.
Even though this space provides many choices to investors--think one of the simplest methodologies like equal-weighting and more complicated ones like fundamental and volatility/momentum based weighting--not all have been able to deliver first-rate results.
Fund Sponsor & Index
The fund is managed by State Street Investment Management. KIE has been able to amass assets over $426.26 million, making it one of the average sized ETFs in the Financials ETFs. Before fees and expenses, this particular fund seeks to match the performance of the S&P Insurance Select Industry Index.
The S&P Insurance Select Industry Index represents the insurance segment of the S&P Total Market Index.
Cost & Other Expenses
Expense ratios are an important factor in the return of an ETF and in the long-term, cheaper funds can significantly outperform their more expensive cousins, other things remaining the same.
Annual operating expenses for KIE are 0.35%, which makes it one of the least expensive products in the space.
It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 1.66%.
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.
KIE's heaviest allocation is in the Financials sector, which is about 100% of the portfolio.
Taking into account individual holdings, Renaissancere Holdings Ltd (RNR) accounts for about 2.17% of the fund's total assets, followed by Chubb Ltd (CB) and Travelers Cos Inc/the (TRV).
KIE's top 10 holdings account for about 20.65% of its total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
The ETF has lost about -6.87% and is up roughly 2.32% so far this year and in the past one year (as of 04/07/2026), respectively. KIE has traded between $53.55 and $61.03 during this last 52-week period.
The ETF has a beta of 0.68 and standard deviation of 16.37% for the trailing three-year period, making it a medium risk choice in the space. With about 56 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 $260.95 million in assets, iShares U.S. Insurance ETF has $373.55 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) was launched on 11/08/2005, and is a smart beta exchange traded fund designed to offer broad exposure to the Financials ETFs category of the market.
What Are Smart Beta ETFs?
For a long time now, the ETF industry has been flooded with products based on market capitalization weighted indexes, which are designed to represent the broader market or a particular market segment.
A good option for investors who believe in market efficiency, market cap weighted indexes offer a low-cost, convenient, and transparent way of replicating market returns.
However, some investors believe in the possibility of beating the market through exceptional stock selection, and choose a different type of fund that tracks non-cap weighted strategies: 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.
Even though this space provides many choices to investors--think one of the simplest methodologies like equal-weighting and more complicated ones like fundamental and volatility/momentum based weighting--not all have been able to deliver first-rate results.
Fund Sponsor & Index
The fund is managed by State Street Investment Management. KIE has been able to amass assets over $426.26 million, making it one of the average sized ETFs in the Financials ETFs. Before fees and expenses, this particular fund seeks to match the performance of the S&P Insurance Select Industry Index.
The S&P Insurance Select Industry Index represents the insurance segment of the S&P Total Market Index.
Cost & Other Expenses
Expense ratios are an important factor in the return of an ETF and in the long-term, cheaper funds can significantly outperform their more expensive cousins, other things remaining the same.
Annual operating expenses for KIE are 0.35%, which makes it one of the least expensive products in the space.
It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 1.66%.
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.
KIE's heaviest allocation is in the Financials sector, which is about 100% of the portfolio.
Taking into account individual holdings, Renaissancere Holdings Ltd (RNR) accounts for about 2.17% of the fund's total assets, followed by Chubb Ltd (CB) and Travelers Cos Inc/the (TRV).
KIE's top 10 holdings account for about 20.65% of its total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
The ETF has lost about -6.87% and is up roughly 2.32% so far this year and in the past one year (as of 04/07/2026), respectively. KIE has traded between $53.55 and $61.03 during this last 52-week period.
The ETF has a beta of 0.68 and standard deviation of 16.37% for the trailing three-year period, making it a medium risk choice in the space. With about 56 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 $260.95 million in assets, iShares U.S. Insurance ETF has $373.55 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.