Bet On Gender Equality With This New ETF

There is plenty of academic research and data suggesting that public companies with women in key leadership roles and on the board outperform their male-dominated rivals. A new exchange-traded fund from State Street Global Advisors (SSgA), the SPDR SSGA Gender Diversity Index ETF SHE, embraces that theme.

The SPDR SSGA Gender Diversity Index ETF, which debuts Tuesday, follows the “SSGA Gender Diversity Index, which comprises listed US large capitalization companies with the highest levels within their sectors of gender diversity on their boards of directors and in their senior leadership,” according to a statement from Boston-based State Street.

Giving SHE A Closer Look

SHE's underlying index allocates over a third of its combined weight to financial services and healthcare stocks, while technology names command a weight of 15.3 percent. The consumer discretionary and industrial sectors each account for 12.9 percent of SHE's weight.

Top 10 holdings in the index include Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK-B), Dow component Home Depot Inc HD, Oracle Corporation/b> ORCL and Amgen, Inc. AMGN. Image Credit: Public Domain

“According to a 2015 MSCI study that explored global trends in gender diversity on corporate boards between December 2009 and August 2015, companies with at least three female board members outperformed others in overall return on equity by more than 36 percent. Despite these findings, American women account for an average of just 16 percent of the members of executive team,” said SSgA in the statement.

The new ETF charges 0.2 percent per year, or $20 for every $10,000 invested.