SPDR EURO STOXX 50 ETF

SPDR EURO STOXX 50 ETF (FEZ) is a State Street index fund that holds the 50 large eurozone companies in the EURO STOXX 50 Index. ASML Holding was its largest stock, at about 10% as of June 30, 2026. Its 0.29% expense ratio is lower than the 0.51% charged by its closest rival, iShares MSCI Eurozone ETF. Broader Europe funds such as Vanguard FTSE Europe ETF cost less, at 0.06%.

• Over the year to Oct 27, 2026, FEZ returned +5.6%, 7th of 8 among similar funds.
• Its 5-year annualized return was +9.9% and its 10-year +10.2%.
• In the 2020 COVID crash it fell 37.8% and regained its old high 8 months after the low.
• Its worst full calendar year was 2008 (-43.0%); its best was 2025 (+37.8%).
• The deepest fall in its price history was 64.2% (Dec 10, 2007 to Mar 9, 2009), recovered by Dec 17, 2020.

As of Jun 30, 2026, the fund held 50 securities; the ten largest made up 41.94% of assets.

• Over the three months to Jun 30, 2026, investors withdrew a net $504.1M (creations minus redemptions, per the N-PORT report).
• Monthly total returns reported for that quarter: +8.18%, +3.27%, +2.57%.

FEZ tracks the EURO STOXX 50 Index, run by the index provider STOXX. The index starts with 20 sector groups, called Supersectors. For each group, STOXX lists the companies that make up about 60% of its free-float market value, meaning the value of shares readily available to trade. The 40 largest stocks on that list join the index. Existing members ranked 41 to 60 keep their place. If there are still fewer than 50, the next largest stocks fill the gap. The index is rebuilt once a year.

Stocks are weighted by free-float market value, so the biggest companies count the most. As of June 30, 2026, ASML Holding made up about 10.4% of the fund, Siemens 4.7% and Banco Santander 4.0%. The 10 largest positions totaled about 41.9%. France (29.5%) and Germany (28.6%) together made up more than half.

The adviser, SSGA Funds Management, may use sampling. That means it can buy a subset of the index rather than every stock, but it must keep at least 80% of assets in index securities. The fund may hold small amounts of cash and use EURO STOXX 50 futures to manage money moving in and out. Portfolio turnover was 10%, a sign of light trading.

• FEZ charges 0.29% a year, versus an average of 0.31% for the similar funds below (4th of 8, cheapest first).
• Using the prospectus's standard example, $10,000 invested would cost about $30 in the first year and $368 over 10 years (assuming a 5% annual return).

FEZ adds large eurozone companies to a portfolio built mostly on US stocks, but its 50-stock focus makes it a complement rather than a foundation.

FEZ gives a portfolio exposure to European industrial, financial and technology leaders. Its history shows the cost of that focus. Measured by price, it fell 64.2% from December 2007 to March 2009. It did not regain that peak until December 2020, nearly 12 years later. Its worst calendar year was 2008, at -43%. It dropped 37.8% in the 2020 COVID crash and 33.7% in the 2022 bear market, recovering in about 8 and 6.5 months. Anyone who had to sell shares during a slump like 2008 would have locked in deep losses.

The trailing 12-month yield was 2.78% as of October 27, 2026, paid quarterly. In the SEC's standard example, the 0.29% expense ratio costs $368 over 10 years on a $10,000 investment. Past results don't predict the future, and a plan should look at the whole portfolio, not one fund.

Matched by holdings overlap from the latest N-PORT reports.