The SPDR Portfolio S&P 500 ETF (SPLG) was launched on 11/08/2005, and is a passively managed exchange traded fund designed to offer broad exposure to the Large Cap Blend segment of the US equity market.
The fund is sponsored by State Street Global Advisors. It has amassed assets over $13.39 billion, making it one of the largest ETFs attempting to match the Large Cap Blend segment of the US equity market.
Why Large Cap Blend
Large cap companies typically have a market capitalization above $10 billion. Overall, they are usually a stable option, with less risk and more sure-fire cash flows than mid and small cap companies.
Blend ETFs usually hold a mix of growth and value stocks as well as stocks that exhibit both value and growth characteristics.
Costs
When considering an ETF’s total return, expense ratios are an important factor, and cheaper funds can significantly outperform their more expensive counterparts in the long term if all other factors remain equal.
Annual operating expenses for this ETF are 0.03%, making it one of the least expensive products in the space.
It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 1.24%.
Sector Exposure and Top Holdings
Even though ETFs offer diversified exposure which minimizes single stock risk, it is still important to look into a fund’s holdings before investing. Luckily, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.
This ETF has heaviest allocation to the Information Technology sector–about 26.50% of the portfolio. Consumer Discretionary and Healthcare round out the top three.
Looking at individual holdings, Apple Inc. (AAPL) accounts for about 5.97% of total assets, followed by Microsoft Corporation (MSFT) and Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN).
The top 10 holdings account for about 26.36% of total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
SPLG seeks to match the performance of the Russell 1000 Index before fees and expenses. The Russell 1000 Index measures the performance of the large-capitalization sector of the US equity market. The Index includes issuers representing approximately 90% of the market capitalization of all publicly-traded U.S. equity securities. The Index is a float-adjusted capitalization-weighted index of equity securities issued by the approximately 1,000 largest issuers in the Russell 3000 Index.
The ETF return is roughly 27.22% so far this year and is up about 40.15% in the last one year (as of 11/04/2021). In the past 52-week period, it has traded between $41.15 and $54.67.
The ETF has a beta of 1 and standard deviation of 22.85% for the trailing three-year period. With about 508 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.
Alternatives
SPDR Portfolio S&P 500 ETF holds a Zacks ETF Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on expected asset class return, expense ratio, and momentum, among other factors. Because of this, SPLG is a great option for investors seeking exposure to the Style Box – Large Cap Blend segment of the market. There are other additional ETFs in the space that investors could consider as well.
The iShares Core S&P 500 ETF (IVV) and the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) track a similar index. While iShares Core S&P 500 ETF has $320.40 billion in assets, SPDR S&P 500 ETF has $424.39 billion. IVV has an expense ratio of 0.03% and SPY charges 0.09%.
Bottom-Line
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.
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
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