SPDR S&P Biotech ETF

SPDR S&P Biotech ETF (XBI), from State Street, tracks the S&P Biotechnology Select Industry Index, which holds about 150 US biotech stocks. The index gives each company roughly the same weight instead of weighting by size, so smaller drug developers count about as much as large ones. No single holding was above 1.5% as of June 30, 2026. The fund charges 0.35% a year, below the 0.54% average of similar funds.

• Over the year to Oct 27, 2026, XBI returned +39.3%, 4th of 8 among similar funds.
• Its 5-year annualized return was +5.0%.
• Its worst full calendar year was 2022 (-25.9%); its best was 2025 (+35.9%).
• The deepest fall in its price history was 63.9% (Feb 8, 2021 to May 11, 2022), not yet recovered.

As of Jun 30, 2026, the fund held 152 securities; the ten largest made up 13.32% of assets. It also reported 5.91% in a money-market fund, most likely cash collateral from lending out shares rather than uninvested money.

• Over the three months to Jun 30, 2026, investors added a net $1.33B (creations minus redemptions, per the N-PORT report).
• Monthly total returns reported for that quarter: +2.84%, +4.14%, +15.80%.

XBI tries to match the S&P Biotechnology Select Industry Index, before fees. S&P Dow Jones Indices builds this index from the biotech slice of the S&P Total Market Index, which covers the broad US stock market. To qualify, a US-based biotech company generally needs a float-adjusted market value of at least $500 million. That counts only shares available to trade. The stock must also trade often enough. Companies are removed if their value drops below $300 million or their trading dries up. If fewer than 35 stocks qualify, life sciences tools companies are added. The index held 147 stocks as of July 31, 2026.

The index is "modified equal weighted." Instead of giving the biggest companies the most room, it spreads money roughly evenly. As of June 30, 2026, the 10 largest of the fund's 152 holdings made up 13.32% of assets. Apogee Therapeutics, Moderna and Twist Bioscience led the list at about 1.4% to 1.5% each. The index rebalances and updates its membership every quarter, so the fund trades often: portfolio turnover was 71%.

The adviser, SSGA Funds Management, may use sampling. That means it can buy a subset of index stocks with similar traits instead of every one. Even so, it must keep at least 80% of assets in index securities. It may also use futures contracts and cash to handle money flowing in and out.

• XBI charges 0.35% a year, versus an average of 0.54% for the similar funds below (2nd of 8, 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).

XBI is a single-industry fund with large, long drawdowns, so it is more often used as a small add-on than as the base of a portfolio.

XBI adds exposure to US biotech, but its price swings hard in both directions. Its price history starts June 2, 2020, so it doesn't cover the 2008 crisis or the 2020 COVID crash. For all of 2020, the prospectus shows a 48.19% gain. In the 2022 bear market, the fund fell 45.6% between January 3 and May 11, 2022. It took about 42 months to recover, on November 21, 2025. Its deepest drop was 63.9%, from February 2021 to May 2022, and it had not fully recovered as of October 27, 2026. Its worst calendar year was 2022, at -25.76%. Anyone forced to sell in a slump like that would lock in deep losses.

Income is small: the trailing 12-month yield was 0.36% as of October 27, 2026, paid twice a year. The cost is 0.35% a year. Past results don't predict future returns, and a plan should look at the whole portfolio, not one fund.

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