Should You Invest in the Health Care Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLV)?
While an excellent vehicle for long term investors, passively managed ETFs are a popular choice among institutional and retail investors due to their low costs, transparency, flexibility, and tax efficiency.
Sector ETFs also provide investors access to a broad group of companies in particular sectors that offer low risk and diversified exposure. Healthcare - Broad is one of the 16 broad Zacks sectors within the Zacks Industry classification. It is currently ranked 6, placing it in top 38%.
The fund is sponsored by State Street Global Advisors. It has amassed assets over $34.94 billion, making it the largest ETF attempting to match the performance of the Healthcare - Broad segment of the equity market. XLV seeks to match the performance of the Health Care Select Sector Index before fees and expenses.
The Health Care Select Sector Index includes companies from the following industries: pharmaceuticals; health care providers & services; health care equipment & supplies; biotechnology; life sciences tools & services; and health care technology.
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 counterparts, other things remaining the same.
Annual operating expenses for this ETF are 0.08%, making it the least expensive product in the space.
It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 1.72%.
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.
This ETF has heaviest allocation in the Healthcare sector--about 100% of the portfolio.
Looking at individual holdings, Eli Lilly + Co (LLY) accounts for about 12.41% of total assets, followed by Johnson + Johnson (JNJ) and Unitedhealth Group Inc (UNH).
The top 10 holdings account for about 56.07% of total assets under management.
The ETF has lost about -0.96% and is down about -6.09% so far this year and in the past one year (as of 06/11/2025), respectively. XLV has traded between $128.77 and $157.24 during this last 52-week period.
The ETF has a beta of 0.63 and standard deviation of 14.25% for the trailing three-year period, making it a medium risk choice in the space. With about 61 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.
Health Care Select Sector SPDR ETF holds a Zacks ETF Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on expected asset class return, expense ratio, and momentum, among other factors. Because of this, XLV is a great option for investors seeking exposure to the Health Care ETFs segment of the market. There are other additional ETFs in the space that investors could consider as well.
IShares Global Healthcare ETF (IXJ) tracks S&P Global 1200 Healthcare Sector Index and the Vanguard Health Care ETF (VHT) tracks MSCI US Investable Market Health Care 25/50 Index. IShares Global Healthcare ETF has $3.81 billion in assets, Vanguard Health Care ETF has $15.41 billion. IXJ has an expense ratio of 0.41% and VHT charges 0.09%.
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.
Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report
Health Care Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLV): ETF Research Reports
UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (UNH) : Free Stock Analysis Report
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) : Free Stock Analysis Report
Eli Lilly and Company (LLY) : Free Stock Analysis Report
Vanguard Health Care ETF (VHT): ETF Research Reports
iShares Global Healthcare ETF (IXJ): ETF Research Reports
This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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