We use cookies to understand how you use our site and to improve your experience.
This includes personalizing content and advertising.
By pressing "Accept All" or closing out of this banner, you consent to the use of all cookies and similar technologies and the sharing of information they collect with third parties.
You can reject marketing cookies by pressing "Deny Optional," but we still use essential, performance, and functional cookies.
In addition, whether you "Accept All," Deny Optional," click the X or otherwise continue to use the site, you accept our Privacy Policy and Terms of Service, revised from time to time.
You are being directed to ZacksTrade, a division of LBMZ Securities and licensed broker-dealer. ZacksTrade and Zacks.com are separate companies. The web link between the two companies is not a solicitation or offer to invest in a particular security or type of security. ZacksTrade does not endorse or adopt any particular investment strategy, any analyst opinion/rating/report or any approach to evaluating individual securities.
If you wish to go to ZacksTrade, click OK. If you do not, click Cancel.
Is SPDR S&P Insurance ETF (KIE) a Strong ETF Right Now?
Read MoreHide Full Article
Designed to provide broad exposure to the Financials ETFs category of the market, the SPDR S&P Insurance ETF (KIE - Free Report) is a smart beta exchange traded fund launched on 11/08/2005.
What Are Smart Beta ETFs?
The ETF industry has traditionally been dominated by products based on market capitalization weighted indexes that are designed to represent the market or a particular segment of the market.
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.
These indexes attempt to select stocks that have better chances of risk-return performance, based on certain fundamental characteristics or a combination of such characteristics.
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 & Index
The fund is managed by State Street Investment Management, and has been able to amass over $849.53 million, which makes 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
Investors should also pay attention to an ETF's expense ratio. Lower cost products will produce better results than those with a higher cost, assuming all other metrics remain the same.
Annual operating expenses for this ETF are 0.35%, making it one of the least expensive products in the space.
It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 1.65%.
Sector Exposure and Top Holdings
Even though ETFs offer diversified exposure that minimizes single stock risk, investors should also look at the actual holdings inside the fund. Luckily, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.
For KIE, it has heaviest allocation in the Financials sector --about 100% of the portfolio.
When you look at individual holdings, Genworth Financial Inc (GNW) accounts for about 2.03% of the fund's total assets, followed by Oscar Health Inc Class A (OSCR) and Kinsale Capital Group Inc (KNSL).
KIE's top 10 holdings account for about 19.98% of its total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
The ETF has added roughly 0.21% and is up roughly 5.11% so far this year and in the past one year (as of 07/31/2025), respectively. KIE has traded between $51.62 and $62.03 during this last 52-week period.
The fund has a beta of 0.75 and standard deviation of 18.03% 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 .
Alternatives
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 $455.35 million in assets, iShares U.S. Insurance ETF has $723.93 million. KBWP has an expense ratio of 0.35% and IAK changes 0.39%.
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.
See More Zacks Research for These Tickers
Normally $25 each - click below to receive one report FREE:
Image: Bigstock
Is SPDR S&P Insurance ETF (KIE) a Strong ETF Right Now?
Designed to provide broad exposure to the Financials ETFs category of the market, the SPDR S&P Insurance ETF (KIE - Free Report) is a smart beta exchange traded fund launched on 11/08/2005.
What Are Smart Beta ETFs?
The ETF industry has traditionally been dominated by products based on market capitalization weighted indexes that are designed to represent the market or a particular segment of the market.
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.
These indexes attempt to select stocks that have better chances of risk-return performance, based on certain fundamental characteristics or a combination of such characteristics.
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 & Index
The fund is managed by State Street Investment Management, and has been able to amass over $849.53 million, which makes 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
Investors should also pay attention to an ETF's expense ratio. Lower cost products will produce better results than those with a higher cost, assuming all other metrics remain the same.
Annual operating expenses for this ETF are 0.35%, making it one of the least expensive products in the space.
It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 1.65%.
Sector Exposure and Top Holdings
Even though ETFs offer diversified exposure that minimizes single stock risk, investors should also look at the actual holdings inside the fund. Luckily, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.
For KIE, it has heaviest allocation in the Financials sector --about 100% of the portfolio.
When you look at individual holdings, Genworth Financial Inc (GNW) accounts for about 2.03% of the fund's total assets, followed by Oscar Health Inc Class A (OSCR) and Kinsale Capital Group Inc (KNSL).
KIE's top 10 holdings account for about 19.98% of its total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
The ETF has added roughly 0.21% and is up roughly 5.11% so far this year and in the past one year (as of 07/31/2025), respectively. KIE has traded between $51.62 and $62.03 during this last 52-week period.
The fund has a beta of 0.75 and standard deviation of 18.03% 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 .
Alternatives
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 $455.35 million in assets, iShares U.S. Insurance ETF has $723.93 million. KBWP has an expense ratio of 0.35% and IAK changes 0.39%.
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.