The State Street Materials Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLB) was launched on December 16, 1998, and is a passively managed exchange traded fund designed to offer broad exposure to the Materials - Broad segment of the equity market.
An increasingly popular option among retail and institutional investors, passively managed ETFs offer low costs, transparency, flexibility, and tax efficiency; they are also excellent vehicles for long term investors.
Sector ETFs also provide investors access to a broad group of companies in particular sectors that offer low risk and diversified exposure. Materials - Broad is one of the 16 broad Zacks sectors within the Zacks Industry classification. It is currently ranked 13, placing it in bottom 19%.
Index Details
The fund is sponsored by State Street Investment Management. It has amassed assets over $7.4 billion, making it one of the largest ETFs attempting to match the performance of the Materials - Broad segment of the equity market. XLB seeks to match the performance of the Materials Select Sector Index before fees and expenses.
The Materials Select Sector Index seeks to provide an effective representation of the materials sector of the S&P 500 Index.
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 0.08%, making it the least expensive product in the space.
It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 1.69%.
Sector Exposure and Top Holdings
ETFs offer a diversified exposure and thus minimize single stock risk but it is still important to delve into a fund's holdings before investing. Most ETFs are very transparent products and many disclose their holdings on a daily basis.
This ETF has heaviest allocation in the Materials sector -- about 100% of the portfolio.
Looking at individual holdings, Linde Plc (LIN) accounts for about 14.23% of total assets, followed by Newmont Corp (NEM) and Freeport Mcmoran Inc (FCX).The top 10 holdings account for about 59% of total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
So far this year, XLB has added about 14.86%, and is up roughly 30.66% in the last one year (as of 04/20/2026). During this past 52-week period, the fund has traded between $39.76 and $53.62.
The ETF has a beta of 0.99 and standard deviation of 16.74% for the trailing three-year period, making it a medium risk choice in the space. With about 29 holdings, it has more concentrated exposure than peers.
Alternatives
State Street Materials Select Sector SPDR 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, XLB is an outstanding option for investors seeking exposure to the Materials ETFs segment of the market. There are other additional ETFs in the space that investors could consider as well.
State Street SPDR S&P Metals & Mining ETF (XME) tracks S&P Metals & Mining Select Industry Index and the FlexShares Morningstar Global Upstream Natural Resources ETF (GUNR) tracks Morningstar Global Upstream Natural Resources Index. State Street SPDR S&P Metals & Mining ETF has $5.01 billion in assets, FlexShares Morningstar Global Upstream Natural Resources ETF has $7.54 billion. XME has an expense ratio of 0.35%, and GUNR charges 0.46%.
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 Materials Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLB): ETF Research Reports
This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).