SPDR S&P Regional Banking ETF

SPDR S&P Regional Banking ETF (KRE), from State Street, tracks the S&P Regional Banks Select Industry Index, a basket of about 160 U.S. regional bank stocks. The index gives each bank roughly the same weight, so no single bank dominates: the largest holding was about 1.4% of assets as of June 30, 2026. Its 0.35% yearly fee ties for the lowest among five similar bank funds. With $4.7 billion in net assets, it is also the largest of the five.

• Over the year to Oct 27, 2026, KRE returned +21.5%, 3rd of 5 among similar funds.
• Its 5-year annualized return was +3.5% and its 10-year +7.8%.
• In the 2020 COVID crash it fell 49.5% and regained its old high 9.5 months after the low.
• Its worst full calendar year was 2007 (-22.0%); its best was 2013 (+47.5%).
• The deepest fall in its price history was 68.6% (Dec 27, 2006 to Mar 9, 2009), recovered by May 12, 2015.

As of Jun 30, 2026, the fund held 161 securities; the ten largest made up 13.57% of assets.

• Over the three months to Jun 30, 2026, investors added a net $488.0M (creations minus redemptions, per the N-PORT report).
• Monthly total returns reported for that quarter: +7.34%, -0.43%, +8.13%.

S&P Dow Jones Indices builds the index from the S&P Total Market Index, which covers the broad U.S. stock market. It picks companies classed as regional banks under GICS (the Global Industry Classification Standard, which sorts companies by business, mainly by revenue). A bank must be based in the U.S. and pass size and trading tests. In most cases that means a float-adjusted market value of at least $500 million. Float-adjusted means it counts only shares available to trade. Banks already in the index are dropped if their value falls below $300 million or their trading activity falls too low. The index held 159 stocks as of July 31, 2026.

The index is "modified equal weighted." Each bank gets a roughly similar slice instead of a slice based on its size. So a smaller lender counts about as much as M&T Bank or Regions Financial. The index rebalances and updates its members every quarter, on the third Friday of the quarter's last month. Annual portfolio turnover was 43%.

The adviser, SSGA Funds Management, may hold all the index stocks or a representative subset. Either way, at least 80% of assets must be in index securities. The fund may use futures (contracts to buy or sell an asset later at a set price) to manage cash. As of June 30, 2026, it held 161 issuers and reported no derivatives.

• KRE charges 0.35% a year, versus an average of 0.49% for the similar funds below (1st of 5, cheapest first).
• Using the prospectus's standard example, $10,000 invested would cost about $36 in the first year and $443 over 10 years (assuming a 5% annual return).

It holds a single, rate-sensitive slice of one industry and has suffered some of the deepest, slowest-healing losses among stock funds.

KRE could add focused exposure to smaller U.S. banks plus a quarterly dividend. The trailing 12-month yield was 2.22% as of October 27, 2026. The trade-off is severe losses. The fund fell 66% in the 2008 financial crisis and took about 57 months to recover. Its deepest drop, 68.6% from December 2006 to March 2009, took more than six years to make back. Its worst calendar year was 2007, with a loss of 22%. It lost 49.5% in the 2020 COVID crash and recovered in about 9.5 months. In 2022 it dropped 27.5% and did not regain that peak until February 2026. Anyone forced to raise cash during a slump like that would lock in deep losses. The 0.35% fee works out to $443 over 10 years in the SEC's standard $10,000 example. Past results don't predict the future. A plan should look at the whole portfolio, not one fund.

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