Looking for broad exposure to the Consumer Staples - Broad segment of the equity market? You should consider the State Street Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLP), a passively managed exchange traded fund launched on December 16, 1998.
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.
Investor-friendly, sector ETFs provide many options to gain low risk and diversified exposure to a broad group of companies in particular sectors. Consumer Staples - Broad is one of the 16 broad Zacks sectors within the Zacks Industry classification. It is currently ranked 14, placing it in bottom 13%.
Index Details
The fund is sponsored by State Street Investment Management. It has amassed assets over $14.9 billion, making it the largest ETF attempting to match the performance of the Consumer Staples - Broad segment of the equity market. XLP seeks to match the performance of the Consumer Staples Select Sector Index before fees and expenses.
The Consumer Staples Select Sector Index seeks to provide an effective representation of the consumer staples sector of the S&P 500 Index.
Costs
Since cheaper funds tend to produce better results than more expensive funds, assuming all other factors remain equal, it is important for investors to pay attention to an ETF's expense ratio.
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 2.67%.
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.
This ETF has heaviest allocation in the Consumer Staples sector -- about 100% of the portfolio.
Looking at individual holdings, Walmart Inc (WMT) accounts for about 11.83% of total assets, followed by Costco Wholesale Corp (COST) and Procter + Gamble Co/the (PG).
The top 10 holdings account for about 61.12% of total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
The ETF has added roughly 3.22% so far this year and is up roughly 7.83% in the last one year (as of 01/13/2026). In that past 52-week period, it has traded between $75.6 and $83.6.
The ETF has a beta of 0.51 and standard deviation of 11.61% for the trailing three-year period, making it a medium risk choice in the space. With about 40 holdings, it has more concentrated exposure than peers.
Alternatives
State Street Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR ETF carries a Zacks ETF Rank of 3 (Hold), which is based on expected asset class return, expense ratio, and momentum, among other factors. Thus, XLP is a good option for those seeking exposure to the Consumer Staples ETFs area of the market. Investors might also want to consider some other ETF options in the space.
Fidelity MSCI Consumer Staples Index ETF (FSTA) tracks MSCI USA IMI Consumer Staples Index and the Vanguard Consumer Staples ETF (VDC) tracks MSCI US Investable Market Consumer Staples 25/50 Index. Fidelity MSCI Consumer Staples Index ETF has $1.35 billion in assets, Vanguard Consumer Staples ETF has $7.47 billion. FSTA has an expense ratio of 0.08%, and VDC 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.
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State Street Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLP): ETF Research ReportsThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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