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Is State Street SPDR S&P Health Care Services ETF (XHS) a Strong ETF Right Now?
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The State Street SPDR S&P Health Care Services ETF (XHS - Free Report) was launched on 09/28/2011, and is a smart beta exchange traded fund designed to offer broad exposure to the Health Care 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.
Investors who believe in market efficiency should consider market cap indexes, as they replicate market returns in a low-cost, convenient, and transparent way.
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.
By attempting to pick stocks that have a better chance of risk-return performance, non-cap weighted indexes are based on certain fundamental characteristics, or a combination of such.
The smart beta space gives investors many different choices, from equal-weighting, one of the simplest strategies, to more complicated ones like fundamental and volatility/momentum based weighting. However, not all of these methodologies have been able to deliver remarkable returns.
Fund Sponsor & Index
XHS is managed by State Street Investment Management, and this fund has amassed over $224.91 million, which makes it one of the average sized ETFs in the Health Care ETFs. XHS seeks to match the performance of the S&P Health Care Services Select Industry Index before fees and expenses.
The S&P Health Care Services Select Industry Index represents the health care sub-industry portion of the S&P Total Stock Market Index. The S&P TMI tracks all the U.S. common stocks listed on the NYSE, AMEX, NASDAQ National Market and NASDAQ Global Select Market. The Health Care Index is a modified equal weight 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.
Operating expenses on an annual basis are 0.35% for this ETF, which makes it one of the least expensive products in the space.
The fund has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 0.19%.
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 in the Healthcare sector - about 100% of the portfolio.
Looking at individual holdings, Lifestance Health Group Inc (LFST) accounts for about 2.62% of total assets, followed by Tenet Healthcare Corp (THC) and Genedx Holdings Corp (WGS).
The top 10 holdings account for about 22.99% of total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
Year-to-date, the State Street SPDR S&P Health Care Services ETF return is roughly 29.45% so far, and is up roughly 42.39% over the last 12 months (as of 09/17/2026). XHS has traded between $98.29 $138.82 in this past 52-week period.
The fund has a beta of 0.93 and standard deviation of 17.92% for the trailing three-year period, which makes XHS a medium risk choice in this particular space. With about 60 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk .
Alternatives
State Street SPDR S&P Health Care Services ETF is a reasonable option for investors seeking to outperform the Health Care ETFs segment of the market. However, there are other ETFs in the space which investors could consider.
() tracks The fund has $0 million in assets. has an expense ratio of %.
Investors looking for cheaper and lower-risk options should consider traditional market cap weighted ETFs that aim to match the returns of the Health Care 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 Health Care Services ETF (XHS) a Strong ETF Right Now?
The State Street SPDR S&P Health Care Services ETF (XHS - Free Report) was launched on 09/28/2011, and is a smart beta exchange traded fund designed to offer broad exposure to the Health Care 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.
Investors who believe in market efficiency should consider market cap indexes, as they replicate market returns in a low-cost, convenient, and transparent way.
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.
By attempting to pick stocks that have a better chance of risk-return performance, non-cap weighted indexes are based on certain fundamental characteristics, or a combination of such.
The smart beta space gives investors many different choices, from equal-weighting, one of the simplest strategies, to more complicated ones like fundamental and volatility/momentum based weighting. However, not all of these methodologies have been able to deliver remarkable returns.
Fund Sponsor & Index
XHS is managed by State Street Investment Management, and this fund has amassed over $224.91 million, which makes it one of the average sized ETFs in the Health Care ETFs. XHS seeks to match the performance of the S&P Health Care Services Select Industry Index before fees and expenses.
The S&P Health Care Services Select Industry Index represents the health care sub-industry portion of the S&P Total Stock Market Index. The S&P TMI tracks all the U.S. common stocks listed on the NYSE, AMEX, NASDAQ National Market and NASDAQ Global Select Market. The Health Care Index is a modified equal weight 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.
Operating expenses on an annual basis are 0.35% for this ETF, which makes it one of the least expensive products in the space.
The fund has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 0.19%.
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 in the Healthcare sector - about 100% of the portfolio.
Looking at individual holdings, Lifestance Health Group Inc (LFST) accounts for about 2.62% of total assets, followed by Tenet Healthcare Corp (THC) and Genedx Holdings Corp (WGS).
The top 10 holdings account for about 22.99% of total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
Year-to-date, the State Street SPDR S&P Health Care Services ETF return is roughly 29.45% so far, and is up roughly 42.39% over the last 12 months (as of 09/17/2026). XHS has traded between $98.29 $138.82 in this past 52-week period.
The fund has a beta of 0.93 and standard deviation of 17.92% for the trailing three-year period, which makes XHS a medium risk choice in this particular space. With about 60 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk .
Alternatives
State Street SPDR S&P Health Care Services ETF is a reasonable option for investors seeking to outperform the Health Care ETFs segment of the market. However, there are other ETFs in the space which investors could consider.
() tracks The fund has $0 million in assets. has an expense ratio of %.
Investors looking for cheaper and lower-risk options should consider traditional market cap weighted ETFs that aim to match the returns of the Health Care 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.