> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.focusalpha.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# ETF Classification and Labels

> How FocusAlpha labels every ETF with two independent systems — the nine-value wrapper tier and a four-level holdings-derived taxonomy — plus the fund's own declared flags and a dated label-change history.

ETF Classification is the label layer FocusAlpha computes for every US-listed ETF. Each fund carries **two independent label systems side by side**: the [wrapper tier](/etf/wrapper-tiers), which says what kind of instrument the fund is, and the [four-level taxonomy](/etf/taxonomy), which says what its holdings actually are. They are never merged, because a leveraged fund and a plain index fund can wrap the same exposure — and separating the two axes is what makes both usable.

<Info>
  **Plan:** Fund · **Credits:** 1 per call; the taxonomy endpoint and screen facets are free
</Info>

## The Two ETF Label Systems

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Wrapper tier" icon="layer-group" href="/etf/wrapper-tiers">
    Nine mutually exclusive values — plain\_beta, leveraged\_inverse, structured\_outcome, option\_income, physical\_commodity, futures\_commodity, crypto, currency, alternative — plus the exposure\_hidden flag.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Four-level taxonomy" icon="sitemap" href="/etf/taxonomy">
    asset\_class → category → segment → specializations, over 900 dotted-path codes computed from holdings, each with a stated semantic.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

## What You Can Use ETF Classification For

Build a peer group that is genuinely comparable, using the level-3 segment code as the peer key. Separate structural risk from exposure: find every leveraged fund regardless of what it tracks, or every health-care fund regardless of how it is wrapped. Aggregate flows or assets by segment. Detect a fund whose portfolio drifted away from the category its name implies — the taxonomy is computed from holdings, so the drift shows up as a dated label change.

## What the Fund Itself Declares

Separately from both computed label systems, the record carries the issuer's own claims: the fund `name`, the filed index flag, the fund-of-fund flag, and the filed leveraged/inverse flag. These are kept apart from FocusAlpha's computed labels so the two can be compared rather than confused — a fund whose filed flags and computed labels disagree is a finding, not an error.

## ETF Classification Date Convention

**Labels are monthly; numbers are daily.** The classification is recomputed from holdings once a month, while NAV, flows and the other measured columns refresh daily. `labels_as_of.holdings_as_of` is the portfolio date the current labels were computed from; `labels_as_of.label_since` is when the current label was assigned; the `history` array dates every previous label change, so a drift can be read directly rather than inferred.

Two "unknown" values mean different things: `unknown.no_holdings` (no holdings feed yet) and `unknown.ambiguous` (holdings arrived but did not decide a label).

## ETF Classification Sources

The taxonomy is calculated by FocusAlpha from issuer-published holdings; the wrapper tier is derived from the fund's filed structure and holdings shape; the declared flags are read from SEC filings. The vocabulary itself is a published artifact served by the free taxonomy endpoint.

## Query ETF Classification

A fund's labels are returned in the `labels` block of the [ETF profile](/etf/overview). The full vocabulary comes from the free taxonomy endpoint. To select funds by label, use the [ETF screen](/etf/screening).

## Related Datasets

See also [ETF Wrapper Tiers](/etf/wrapper-tiers) and [ETF Taxonomy](/etf/taxonomy) for each system in full, [ETF Holdings](/etf/holdings) for the data the labels are computed from, and [ETF Screening](/etf/screening) for filtering by them.

<RequestExample>
  ```bash cURL theme={null}
  curl "https://api.focusalpha.ai/v1/etfs/XBI" \
    -H "Authorization: Bearer $FOCUSALPHA_API_KEY"
  ```
</RequestExample>

<ResponseExample>
  ```json labels block (XBI) theme={null}
  {
    "labels": {
      "wrapper": {
        "tier": "plain_beta",
        "exposure_hidden": false
      },
      "asset_class": {
        "code": "equity",
        "label": "Equity",
        "semantic": "What the fund holds: equity exposure >= l1_dominant_exposure_min of non-cash weight"
      },
      "category": {
        "code": "equity.sector",
        "label": "Sector",
        "semantic": "Top GICS sector >= l2_sector_min"
      },
      "segment": {
        "code": "equity.sector.health_care",
        "label": "Health Care",
        "semantic": "Segment: top sector of linked equity weight >= l2_sector_min. Industries (level 4) registered on demand under this node"
      },
      "specializations": [
        {
          "code": "equity.sector.geo_us",
          "label": "U.S."
        },
        {
          "code": "equity.sector.health_care.biotechnology",
          "label": "Biotechnology"
        }
      ],
      "measured_tags": [],
      "declared": {
        "name": "State Street SPDR S&P Biotech ETF",
        "multi_inverse_index": null,
        "is_index": true,
        "is_fund_of_fund": null
      },
      "labels_as_of": {
        "holdings_as_of": "2026-08-28T00:00:00.000Z",
        "label_since": "2026-09-01T00:00:00.000Z"
      },
      "history": [
        {
          "level": "segment",
          "from_code": null,
          "to_code": "equity.sector.health_care",
          "changed_on": "2026-09-01T00:00:00.000Z"
        }
      ],
      "status": "available"
    }
  }
  ```
</ResponseExample>