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Is WisdomTree International High Dividend ETF (DTH) a Strong ETF Right Now?

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The WisdomTree International High Dividend ETF (DTH - Free Report) made its debut on 06/16/2006, and is a smart beta exchange traded fund that provides broad exposure to the Broad Developed World ETFs category of the market.

What Are Smart Beta ETFs?

The ETF industry has long been dominated by products based on market cap weighted indexes, a strategy created to reflect the market or a particular market segment.

Because market cap weighted indexes provide a low-cost, convenient, and transparent way of replicating market returns, they work well for investors who believe in market efficiency.

But, there are some investors who would rather invest in smart beta funds; these funds track non-cap weighted strategies, and are a strong option for those who prefer choosing great stocks in order to beat the market.

Non-cap weighted indexes try to choose stocks that have a better chance of risk-return performance, which is based on specific fundamental characteristics, or a mix of other such characteristics.

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. DTH has been able to amass assets over $200.07 million, making it one of the average sized ETFs in the Broad Developed World ETFs. DTH, before fees and expenses, seeks to match the performance of the WisdomTree International High Dividend Index.

The WisdomTree International High Dividend Index is a fundamentally weighted Index that measures the performance of companies with high dividend yields selected from the WisdomTree International Equity Index.

Cost & Other Expenses

For ETF investors, expense ratios are an important factor when considering a fund's return; in the long-term, cheaper funds actually have the ability to outperform their more expensive cousins if all other things remain the same.

Operating expenses on an annual basis are 0.58% for this ETF, which makes it on par with most peer products in the space.

It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 6.26%.

Sector Exposure and Top Holdings

Even though ETFs offer diversified exposure which minimizes single stock risk, it is still important to look into a fund's holdings before investing. Luckily, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.

When you look at individual holdings, Bhp Group Ltd (BHP - Free Report) accounts for about 5.79% of the fund's total assets, followed by Rio Tinto Plc (RIO - Free Report) and Novartis Ag .

Its top 10 holdings account for approximately 24.03% of DTH's total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

So far this year, DTH has lost about -5.42%, and is down about -6.88% in the last one year (as of 08/17/2022). During this past 52-week period, the fund has traded between $32.74 and $41.22.

The fund has a beta of 0.78 and standard deviation of 22.28% for the trailing three-year period, which makes DTH a medium risk choice in this particular space. With about 412 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Alternatives

WisdomTree International High Dividend ETF is a reasonable option for investors seeking to outperform the Broad Developed World ETFs segment of the market. However, there are other ETFs in the space which investors could consider.

IShares MSCI EAFE ETF (EFA - Free Report) tracks MSCI EAFE Index and the iShares Core MSCI EAFE ETF (IEFA - Free Report) tracks MSCI EAFE Investable Market Index. IShares MSCI EAFE ETF has $47.65 billion in assets, iShares Core MSCI EAFE ETF has $89.99 billion. EFA has an expense ratio of 0.32% and IEFA charges 0.07%.

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