The Best (and Only) Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) is considered the granddaddy of all stock indexes. Often called the Dow, this index began in 1896 and is considered one of the main 3 U.S. stock market indexes, along with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite. It is made up of 30 U.S. blue-chip stocks. Due to its small size, and the fact that it is price weighted as opposed to cap-weighted, it is not as representative of the market as a whole as large indexes such as the S&P 500. The Dow has recently faced intense volatility surrounding the coronavirus and other global geopolitical developments. Investors looking to capitalize on the Dow without buying individual stocks can look to an exchange-traded fund (ETF). These funds hold baskets of securities in order to provide efficiency and portfolio diversity as a means of reducing risk.

At this time, there is only one non-leveraged ETF which follows the Dow, the SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF (DIA). In spite of recent turbulence in the Dow, DIA has eked out a 1-year trailing return of 3.9%. All figures below are as of March 12, 2020.

• Performance over 1-Year: 3.9%
• Expense Ratio: 0.16%
• Annual Dividend Yield: 2.30%
• 3-Month Average Daily Volume: 3,613,463
• Assets Under Management: $20.2 billion
• Inception Date: Jan. 14, 1998
• Issuer: State Street SPDR

The SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF is a reliable ETF for replicating the performance of the Dow. This ETF invests in all the stocks of the Dow and weights them similar to the underlying index. As such, DIA is a mega- and large-cap fund focused on American securities. Below, we'll look at the top 10 holdings for DIA.