Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund

Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLK) is a State Street index fund. It holds the technology stocks among the S&P 500's large US companies by tracking the Technology Select Sector Index. Its yearly fee, 0.08% of assets, was the lowest among nine similar tech funds compared; the other eight averaged 0.32%. It is also highly concentrated: its 10 largest holdings, led by NVIDIA, Apple and Microsoft, were 64% of assets as of June 30, 2026.

• Over the year to Oct 30, 2026, XLK returned +20.1%, 3rd of 9 among similar funds.
• Its 5-year annualized return was +3.0% and its 10-year +15.4%.
• In the 2020 COVID crash it fell 31.2% and regained its old high 2.6 months after the low.
• Its worst full calendar year was 2000 (-41.9%); its best was 1999 (+65.1%).
• The deepest fall in its price history was 82% (Mar 27, 2000 to Oct 9, 2002), recovered by May 15, 2017.

As of Jun 30, 2026, the fund held 74 securities; the ten largest made up 64.45% of assets.

By sector

• Over the three months to Jun 30, 2026, investors added a net $2.30B (creations minus redemptions, per the N-PORT report).
• Monthly total returns reported for that quarter: +19.92%, +19.80%, -0.13%.

XLK aims to match the price and yield performance of the Technology Select Sector Index, before expenses. S&P Dow Jones Indices picks the stocks and sets their weights. A company can only be included if it is in the S&P 500 and is classed as information technology under GICS, a standard system for sorting companies by industry. That covers semiconductors and chip equipment, software, hardware and storage, communications equipment, IT services and electronic components. The index held 70 stocks as of November 30, 2025.

The index weights stocks by market capitalization (share price times shares outstanding), so the biggest companies count most. It can trim very large single-stock weights to meet federal tax diversification rules for funds. Even so, as of June 30, 2026, NVIDIA was 14.7% of assets, Apple 12.8% and Microsoft 8.4%. The prospectus calls XLK "non-diversified": a few stocks can sway it heavily.

XLK uses replication. That means it holds substantially all the index's stocks in roughly the same proportions, and at least 95% of its assets must be in index stocks. The rest can sit in cash or money market funds; cash was 0.19% as of June 30, 2026. Turnover, roughly the share of holdings replaced in a year, was 5%. There is no leverage or options strategy. Like any exchange-traded fund (ETF), its market price can drift slightly from its net asset value (NAV), the per-share worth of its holdings.

• XLK charges 0.08% a year, versus an average of 0.32% for the similar funds below (1st of 9, cheapest first).
• Of that, 0.03% is the management fee; the rest covers other fund expenses.
• Using the prospectus's standard example, $10,000 invested would cost about $8 in the first year and $103 over 10 years (assuming a 5% annual return).

It holds only S&P 500 technology stocks, with 64% of assets in its top 10 as of June 30, 2026, so it adds concentrated tech exposure rather than broad diversification.

XLK adds focused exposure to large US technology companies at low cost: 0.08% a year. In the SEC's standard example of $10,000 growing 5% a year, total costs would be $8 after one year and $103 after ten. Income is small: a 0.44% trailing 12-month yield as of October 27, 2026, paid quarterly.

XLK fell 53.3% in the 2008 financial crisis and took about 38 months to recover. It lost 31.2% in the 2020 COVID crash and 33.1% in the 2022 bear market, recovering in about 2.6 and 8 months. Its worst calendar year was 2000, a 41.9% loss. Its deepest fall, 82% from March 2000 to October 2002, was not recovered until May 2017. With little income, withdrawals in a slump mean cashing out shares at depressed prices. 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.