Should You Invest in the Health Care Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLV)?

Designed to provide broad exposure to the Healthcare - Broad segment of the equity market, the Health Care Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLV) is a passively managed exchange traded fund launched on 12/16/1998.

Retail and institutional investors increasingly turn to passively managed ETFs because they offer low costs, transparency, flexibility, and tax efficiency; these kind of funds are also excellent vehicles for long term investors.

Investor-friendly, sector ETFs provide many options to gain low risk and diversified exposure to a broad group of companies in particular sectors. Healthcare - Broad is one of the 16 broad Zacks sectors within the Zacks Industry classification. It is currently ranked 4, placing it in top 25%.

Index Details

The fund is sponsored by State Street Global Advisors. It has amassed assets over $36.03 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.

Costs

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 1.68%.

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, Eli Lilly + Co (LLY) accounts for about 13.20% of total assets, followed by Unitedhealth Group Inc (UNH) and Johnson + Johnson (JNJ).

The top 10 holdings account for about 57.34% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

So far this year, XLV has added about 1.28%, and is down about -1.52% in the last one year (as of 04/10/2025). During this past 52-week period, the fund has traded between $132.98 and $157.24.

The ETF has a beta of 0.70 and standard deviation of 14.29% for the trailing three-year period, making it a medium risk choice in the space. With about 63 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Alternatives

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 an excellent 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 $3.73 billion in assets, Vanguard Health Care ETF has $15.60 billion. IXJ has an expense ratio of 0.41% and VHT charges 0.09%.

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.

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

This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

Zacks Investment Research