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Is WisdomTree Global exU.S. Quality Dividend Growth ETF (DNL) a Strong ETF Right Now?

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The WisdomTree Global exU.S. Quality Dividend Growth ETF (DNL - Free Report) was launched on 06/16/2006, and is a smart beta exchange traded fund designed to offer broad exposure to the World ETFs category of the market.

What Are Smart Beta ETFs?

For a long time now, the ETF industry has been flooded with products based on market capitalization weighted indexes, which are designed to represent the broader market or a particular market segment.

A good option for investors who believe in market efficiency, market cap weighted indexes offer a low-cost, convenient, and transparent way of replicating market returns.

On the other hand, some investors who believe that it is possible to beat the market by superior stock selection opt to invest in another class of funds that track non-cap weighted strategies--popularly known as smart beta.

Based on specific fundamental characteristics, or a combination of such, these indexes attempt to pick stocks that have a better chance of risk-return performance.

This area offers many different investment choices, such as simplest equal-weighting, fundamental weighting and volatility/momentum based weighting methodologies; however, not all of these strategies can deliver superior results.

Fund Sponsor & Index

The fund is managed by Wisdomtree. DNL has been able to amass assets over $402.17 million, making it one of the average sized ETFs in the World ETFs. Before fees and expenses, DNL seeks to match the performance of the WisdomTree Global ex-U.S. Quality Dividend Growth Index.

The WisdomTree Global ex-U.S. Quality Dividend Growth Index is a fundamentally weighted index that measures the performance of dividend paying stocks with growth characteristics in the developed and emerging markets outside of the United States.

Cost & Other Expenses

Expense ratios are an important factor in the return of an ETF and in the long-term, cheaper funds can significantly outperform their more expensive cousins, other things remaining the same.

Operating expenses on an annual basis are 0.58% for DNL, making it on par with most peer products in the space.

The fund has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 1.66%.

Sector Exposure and Top Holdings

ETFs offer diversified exposure and thus minimize single stock risk, but it is still important to delve into a fund's holdings before investing. Most ETFs are very transparent products and many disclose their holdings on a daily basis.

Looking at individual holdings, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd accounts for about 4.85% of total assets, followed by Unilever Plc (ULVR) and Rio Tinto Ltd (RIO - Free Report) .

The top 10 holdings account for about 36.84% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

The ETF has gained about 11.63% and was up about 36.82% so far this year and in the past one year (as of 06/17/2021), respectively. DNL has traded between $31.35 and $42.66 during this last 52-week period.

The fund has a beta of 0.81 and standard deviation of 22.31% for the trailing three-year period, which makes DNL a medium risk choice in this particular space. With about 276 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Alternatives

WisdomTree Global exU.S. Quality Dividend Growth ETF is not a suitable option for investors seeking to outperform the World ETFs segment of the market. Instead, there are other ETFs in the space which investors should consider.

IShares Core Dividend Growth ETF (DGRO - Free Report) tracks Morningstar US Dividend Growth Index and the Vanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF (VIG - Free Report) tracks NASDAQ US Dividend Achievers Select Index. IShares Core Dividend Growth ETF has $18.93 billion in assets, Vanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF has $59.10 billion. DGRO has an expense ratio of 0.08% and VIG charges 0.06%.

Investors looking for cheaper and lower-risk options should consider traditional market cap weighted ETFs that aim to match the returns of the World ETFs.

Bottom Line

To learn more about this product and other ETFs, screen for products that match your investment objectives and read articles on latest developments in the ETF investing universe, please visit Zacks ETF Center.

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