The SPDR S&P Pharmaceuticals ETF (XPH) was launched on 06/19/2006, 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.
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.
There are some investors, though, who think it's possible to beat the market with great stock selection; this group likely invests in another class of funds known as smart beta, which track non-cap weighted strategies.
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
Managed by State Street Global Advisors, XPH has amassed assets over $201.40 million, making it one of the average sized ETFs in the Health Care ETFs. Before fees and expenses, XPH seeks to match the performance of the S&P Pharmaceuticals Select Industry Index.
The S&P Pharmaceuticals Select Industry Index represents the pharmaceuticals sub-industry portion of the S&P Total Markets Index. The S&P TMI tracks all the US common stocks listed on the NYSE, AMEX, NASDAQ National Market and NASDAQ Small Cap exchanges. The Pharmaceuticals 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 1.48%.
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.
Representing 100% of the portfolio, the fund has heaviest allocation to the Healthcare sector.
Taking into account individual holdings, Eli Lilly + Co (LLY) accounts for about 5.74% of the fund's total assets, followed by Intra Cellular Therapies Inc (ITCI) and Elanco Animal Health Inc (ELAN).
Its top 10 holdings account for approximately 51.15% of XPH's total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
Year-to-date, the SPDR S&P Pharmaceuticals ETF has gained about 2.21% so far, and is up about 1.16% over the last 12 months (as of 07/24/2024). XPH has traded between $35.20 and $45.49 in this past 52-week period.
The fund has a beta of 0.76 and standard deviation of 20.10% for the trailing three-year period, which makes XPH a high risk choice in this particular space. With about 42 holdings, it has more concentrated exposure than peers.
Alternatives
SPDR S&P Pharmaceuticals 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.
VanEck Pharmaceutical ETF (PPH) tracks MVIS US Listed Pharmaceutical 25 Index and the iShares U.S. Pharmaceuticals ETF (IHE) tracks Dow Jones U.S. Select Pharmaceuticals Index. VanEck Pharmaceutical ETF has $612.61 million in assets, iShares U.S. Pharmaceuticals ETF has $667.39 million. PPH has an expense ratio of 0.36% and IHE charges 0.40%.
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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Get it free >>SPDR S&P Pharmaceuticals ETF (XPH): ETF Research Reports
Eli Lilly and Company (LLY) : Free Stock Analysis Report
Intra-Cellular Therapies Inc. (ITCI) : Free Stock Analysis Report
iShares U.S. Pharmaceuticals ETF (IHE): ETF Research Reports
VanEck Pharmaceutical ETF (PPH): ETF Research Reports
Elanco Animal Health Incorporated (ELAN) : Free Stock Analysis Report
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