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Is Vident International Equity Strategy ETF (VIDI) a Strong ETF Right Now?

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Making its debut on 10/29/2013, smart beta exchange traded fund Vident International Equity Strategy ETF (VIDI - Free Report) provides investors broad exposure to the World ETFs category of the market.

What Are Smart Beta ETFs?

Products that are based on market cap weighted indexes, which are strategies designed to reflect a specific market segment or the market as a whole, have traditionally dominated the ETF industry.

Investors who believe in market efficiency should consider market cap indexes, as they replicate market returns in a low-cost, convenient, and transparent way.

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.

Even though this space provides many choices to investors--think one of the simplest methodologies like equal-weighting and more complicated ones like fundamental and volatility/momentum based weighting--not all have been able to deliver first-rate results.

Fund Sponsor & Index

Because the fund has amassed over $366.24 million, this makes it one of the larger ETFs in the World ETFs. VIDI is managed by Vident Financial. This particular fund, before fees and expenses, seeks to match the performance of the Vident International Equity Index.

The Vident Core International Equity Index is an international equity index that combines principles-based country and securities selection with sophisticated risk management. The index balances risk across developed and emerging economies and emphasizes those with favorable conditions for growth.

Cost & Other Expenses

Investors should also pay attention to an ETF's expense ratio. Lower cost products will produce better results than those with a higher cost, assuming all other metrics remain the same.

With on par with most peer products in the space, this ETF has annual operating expenses of 0.61%.

It's 12-month trailing dividend yield comes in at 5.46%.

Sector Exposure and Top Holdings

It is important to delve into an ETF's holdings before investing despite the many upsides to these kinds of funds like diversified exposure, which minimizes single stock risk. And, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.

Taking into account individual holdings, Cash & Other (Cash&Other) accounts for about 0.95% of the fund's total assets, followed by Bank Of Ireland Gr (BIRG) and Securitas (SECUB).

The top 10 holdings account for about 6.87% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

Year-to-date, the Vident International Equity Strategy ETF return is roughly 7.03% so far, and is down about -6% over the last 12 months (as of 01/31/2023). VIDI has traded between $19.23 and $27.33 in this past 52-week period.

The fund has a beta of 0.92 and standard deviation of 24.49% for the trailing three-year period, which makes VIDI a medium risk choice in this particular space. With about 246 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Alternatives

Vident International Equity Strategy 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.

Vanguard Total International Stock ETF (VXUS - Free Report) tracks FTSE Global All Cap ex US Index and the Vanguard FTSE Developed Markets ETF (VEA - Free Report) tracks FTSE Developed All Cap ex US Index. Vanguard Total International Stock ETF has $54.06 billion in assets, Vanguard FTSE Developed Markets ETF has $108.69 billion. VXUS has an expense ratio of 0.07% and VEA charges 0.05%.

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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