Investing can feel like staring at a bowl of alphabet soup. You’ve got tickers flying everywhere, and if you’re looking at State Street Global Advisors, you’re basically looking at the granddaddy of the industry. They launched the very first US-listed exchange-traded fund back in 1993. It was the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust, better known by its ticker, SPY. Since then, the list of SPDR ETFs has exploded into a massive catalog covering everything from gold bars to emerging market small-caps.
State Street is currently going through a bit of a rebranding phase. As of January 2026, they are officially adding "State Street" to the titles of their most famous funds. SPY is now the State Street SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust. Same ticker, same legendary liquidity, just a slightly longer name on the legal paperwork.
Why does this list even matter to you? Because these funds are the building blocks of millions of retirement accounts. Whether you want to bet on the entire US economy, a specific slice of the tech world, or just hide out in Treasury bills while the market goes crazy, there is a "Spider" for that.
The Heavy Hitters: Broad Market Exposure
Most people start here. If you want to own a piece of the 500 biggest companies in America, you look at SPY. It is the liquid king. It’s the ETF that big institutional players use to hedge their bets because you can trade millions of shares in seconds without moving the price. But here is the thing: SPY isn't the only way to play.
State Street actually has a "Portfolio" lineup designed specifically for long-term investors who care about every penny of the expense ratio. While SPY has an expense ratio of roughly 0.0945%, its younger sibling, the State Street SPDR Portfolio S&P 500 ETF (SPYM), sits at a tiny 0.02%.
Then you have the Dow. The State Street SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF Trust (DIA) follows those 30 iconic blue-chip stocks. People love DIA because it pays out dividends monthly. Most ETFs pay quarterly. Getting a check every month feels a lot more like a "paycheck" for retirees, even if the math is mostly the same in the end.
List of SPDR ETFs: The Famous Sector Spiders
This is where the SPDR brand really shines. They divided the S&P 500 into 11 distinct "Select Sectors." If you think banks are going to crush it but tech is overpriced, you don't have to buy the whole index. You just buy the slice you want.
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- XLF (Financials): This is the go-to for banks, insurance, and investment firms.
- XLK (Technology): If you want Nvidia, Apple, and Microsoft, this is your home. In early 2026, tech still makes up over 33% of the broad S&P 500, but in XLK, it’s the whole show.
- XLE (Energy): Oil and gas giants.
- XLV (Health Care): Pharma and biotech.
- XLY (Consumer Discretionary): Think Amazon and Tesla.
There are also niche industry funds. You’ve probably heard of XBI, the SPDR S&P Biotech ETF. It’s famous because it’s "equal-weighted." Most ETFs give more weight to the biggest companies. XBI gives the tiny, speculative lab in Cambridge the same weight as a multi-billion dollar giant. It’s way more volatile, but when biotech runs, XBI usually flies.
Fixed Income and the Search for Yield
Bonds are back. After years of paying next to nothing, the list of SPDR ETFs in the fixed-income space is seeing massive inflows.
If you just want to park cash and earn a safe return, BIL (1-3 Month T-Bill ETF) is basically a high-yield savings account on the stock exchange. It’s boring. It barely moves. That’s exactly why people like it. On the other end of the spectrum, you’ve got JNK (Bloomberg High Yield Bond ETF). As the ticker implies, it’s "junk" bonds. You get a much higher yield, but you're taking on the risk that those companies might default.
State Street also manages the "Active" side of things now. They have target-maturity bond ETFs, like the State Street My2026 Corporate Bond ETF (MYCF). These funds have an expiration date. When 2026 ends, the fund closes and gives the cash back to the investors. It’s a way to "ladder" your bonds without having to buy individual debt certificates yourself.
Commodities and Gold
You can’t talk about SPDR without mentioning GLD. It’s the SPDR Gold Shares.
For a long time, if you wanted to own gold, you had to buy physical coins and hide them under your mattress or pay for a vault. GLD changed that. Each share represents a fractional interest in physical gold bullion stored in London vaults. It’s been a massive performer recently. In late 2025 and into 2026, GLD saw returns north of 60% as investors looked for a hedge against global uncertainty.
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What Most People Get Wrong About the List
A common mistake is thinking all SPDR ETFs are created equal. They aren't.
Take the "Portfolio" series. These were launched to compete with Vanguard and BlackRock on price. If you are a "buy and hold" investor, you should almost always look for the ticker that starts with "SP" (like SPYG for Growth or SPYV for Value). These usually have lower fees than the older, more established versions.
Also, watch out for "Smart Beta" funds. These are ETFs that don't just track an index but try to "tilt" toward certain factors like low volatility or high dividends. The SPDR S&P Dividend Aristocrats UCITS ETF is a great example. It only buys companies that have increased their dividends for at least 25 consecutive years. It’s a quality filter. It doesn't mean it will always outperform, but it’s a different beast than a standard index fund.
Actionable Steps for Your Portfolio
If you are looking at this list and feeling overwhelmed, don't just start clicking "buy."
- Check the Expense Ratio: Seriously. A 0.02% fee versus a 0.50% fee might not seem like much today, but over 20 years, it's a massive chunk of your potential wealth.
- Understand the Weighting: Look at the top 10 holdings. If you buy XLK (Tech), you are very heavily concentrated in just a few names like Nvidia and Apple. Make sure you’re okay with that.
- Liquidity Matters for Traders: If you plan on moving in and out of positions quickly, stick to the high-volume names like SPY or XLF. The "bid-ask spread" is tighter, meaning it’s cheaper to trade.
- Tax Efficiency: Most of these are very tax-efficient, but active funds or those that hold certain commodities can have different tax implications. Always check if you're holding them in a taxable brokerage account or a Roth IRA.
The world of ETFs moves fast. State Street just announced they are liquidating a few niche ESG and climate funds in May 2026, so the list is always shrinking and growing. Keep an eye on the prospectuses, and don't be afraid to swap a high-fee fund for a lower-fee equivalent if the strategy is the same.