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The standard way to own semiconductors is to buy a cap-weighted fund and accept that NVIDIA, Broadcom, and TSMC will dominate the returns. SPDR S&P Semiconductor ETF (NYSEARCA:XSD) takes the opposite approach. It uses a modified equal-weight methodology against the S&P Semiconductor Select Industry Index, so a $200 billion analog chipmaker carries roughly the same portfolio influence as a $20 billion specialty designer. For investors who think the next leg of semiconductor returns will come from beyond the mega-caps, that structural choice is the entire pitch.
XSD is a targeted sector sleeve, not a core holding. It owns 44 U.S.-listed semiconductor names with the top ten positions accounting for just 29% of assets and the largest single weight at 3% in Marvell Technology. Compare that to iShares Semiconductor ETF (NASDAQ:SOXX) or VanEck Semiconductor ETF (NASDAQ:SMH), where the top names alone can run 20% of the fund.
The return engine is straightforward: cyclical earnings growth in chip designers and equipment makers, captured without the distortion of mega-cap concentration. No options overlay, no leverage. The expense ratio is 0.35%, the dividend yield is a token 0.65%, and the portfolio trades at a 23 P/E with a 4.12 price-to-book. Holdings span analog, power management, RF/mixed-signal, and specialty designs: Power Integrations, Cirrus Logic, ON Semiconductor, Lattice, Monolithic Power, and Analog Devices each sit within a tight around 3% band.
The equal-weight design has paid off in the current cycle. XSD closed at almost $500, up 156% over one year and 55% year to date. The one-month gain alone was 50%, reflecting a sharp recovery after the March volatility episode that drove the VIX to almost 31 in late March. The ten-year return sits at 1,138%.
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Strong numbers, but context matters. The five-year return of 186% trails what cap-weighted peers delivered over the same window, because equal weighting underweights the AI-era winners that drove SOXX and SMH. That is the bargain XSD asks investors to make: when leadership is narrow, this fund lags. When leadership broadens across analog, power, and specialty chips, as the Q1-to-Q4 2025 jump in durable goods manufacturing profits from $325.6 billion to $433.4 billion suggests is happening, the structure shines.
Equal-weight is a factor bet, not a free lunch. Quarterly rebalancing trims winners and adds to laggards. In a cycle led by a single dominant name, XSD will underperform cap-weighted peers, and there is no way around that without changing what the fund is.
Cyclicality is amplified. Mid-cap semis swing harder than the mega-cap names on inventory cycles and capex shifts. With the 10-year Treasury at 4.4%, in the 84th percentile of the past year, valuation multiples for these names face ongoing rate pressure.
No diversification beyond chips. The fund is 100% semiconductors. It is a scalpel, and sizing it like a core holding will introduce volatility most retail portfolios are not built for.
XSD fits as a 3% to 7% satellite position for investors who want semiconductor exposure without rolling the cycle on three mega-caps; the primary risk is that equal weighting structurally lags whenever the chip cycle is led by one or two dominant winners.
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