Is State Street SPDR S&P Insurance ETF (KIE) a Strong ETF Right Now?

The State Street SPDR S&P Insurance ETF (KIE) made its debut on 11/08/2005, and is a smart beta exchange traded fund that provides broad exposure to the Financials ETFs category of the market.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.If you're the kind of investor who would rather try and beat the market through good stock selection, then smart beta funds are your best choice; this fund class is known for tracking non-cap weighted strategies.Based on specific fundamental characteristics, or a combination of such, these indexes attempt to pick stocks that have a better chance of risk-return performance.This area offers many different investment choices, such as simplest equal-weighting, fundamental weighting and volatility/momentum based weighting methodologies; however, not all of these strategies can deliver superior results.Fund Sponsor & IndexManaged by State Street Investment Management, KIE has amassed assets over $635.06 million, making it one of the average sized ETFs in the Financials ETFs. KIE seeks to match the performance of the S&P Insurance Select Industry Index before fees and expenses.The S&P Insurance Select Industry Index represents the insurance segment of the S&P Total Market Index.Cost & Other ExpensesFor ETF investors, expense ratios are an important factor when considering a fund's return; in the long-term, cheaper funds actually have the ability to outperform their more expensive cousins if all other things remain the same.Operating expenses on an annual basis are 0.35% for this ETF, which makes it one of the least expensive products in the space.It's 12-month trailing dividend yield comes in at 1.56%.Sector Exposure and Top HoldingsIt 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.KIE's heaviest allocation is in the Financials sector, which is about 100% of the portfolio.When you look at individual holdings, Kinsale Capital Group Inc (KNSL) accounts for about 2.08% of the fund's total assets, followed by White Mountains Insurance Gp (WTM) and Ryan Specialty Holdings Inc (RYAN).KIE's top 10 holdings account for about 20.11% of its total assets under management.Performance and RiskYear-to-date, the State Street SPDR S&P Insurance ETF has added roughly 6.55% so far, and is down about -2.35% over the last 12 months (as of 12/02/2025). KIE has traded between $53.63 $61.17 in this past 52-week period. The fund has a beta of 0.75 and standard deviation of 17.14% for the trailing three-year period, which makes KIE a medium risk choice in this particular space. With about 55 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk .AlternativesState 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 $410.32 million in assets, iShares U.S. Insurance ETF has $508.98 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 ETFsBottom LineTo 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.Boost Your Portfolio with Our Top ETF InsightsZacks' exclusive Fund Newsletter delivers actionable information, top news and analysis, as well as top-performing ETFs, straight to your inbox every week.Don’t miss out on this valuable resource. It’s free!Get it now >>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 State Street SPDR S&P Insurance ETF (KIE): ETF Research ReportsThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).Zacks Investment ResearchWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks