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

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Designed to provide broad exposure to the World ETFs category of the market, the Vident International Equity Strategy ETF (VIDI - Free Report) is a smart beta exchange traded fund launched on 10/29/2013.

What Are Smart Beta ETFs?

Market cap weighted indexes were created to reflect the market, or a specific segment of the market, and the ETF industry has traditionally been dominated by products based on this strategy.

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

However, some investors believe in the possibility of beating the market through exceptional stock selection, and choose a different type of fund that tracks non-cap weighted strategies: smart beta.

These indexes attempt to select stocks that have better chances of risk-return performance, based on certain fundamental characteristics or a combination of such characteristics.

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

VIDI is managed by Vident Financial, and this fund has amassed over $383.45 million, which makes it one of the larger ETFs in the World ETFs. Before fees and expenses, VIDI 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 has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 4.14%.

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.

Taking into account individual holdings, Cash & Other (Cash&Other) accounts for about 1.11% of the fund's total assets, followed by Tripod Technology and Centrica (CNA - Free Report) .

Its top 10 holdings account for approximately 6.79% of VIDI's total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

Year-to-date, the Vident International Equity Strategy ETF has gained about 0% so far, and is up roughly 18.60% over the last 12 months (as of 01/02/2024). VIDI has traded between $21.52 and $24.61 in this past 52-week period.

The ETF has a beta of 0.94 and standard deviation of 16.24% for the trailing three-year period, making it a medium risk choice in the space. With about 247 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Alternatives

Vident International Equity Strategy ETF is a reasonable option for investors seeking to outperform the World ETFs segment of the market. However, there are other ETFs in the space which investors could 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 $62.25 billion in assets, Vanguard FTSE Developed Markets ETF has $120.89 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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