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Is iShares Emerging Markets Dividend ETF (DVYE) a Strong ETF Right Now?

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Designed to provide broad exposure to the Broad Emerging Market ETFs category of the market, the iShares Emerging Markets Dividend ETF (DVYE - Free Report) is a smart beta exchange traded fund launched on 02/23/2012.

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.

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.

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.

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

Because the fund has amassed over $523.54 M, this makes it one of the larger ETFs in the Broad Emerging Market ETFs. DVYE is managed by Blackrock. This particular fund, before fees and expenses, seeks to match the performance of the Dow Jones Emerging Markets Select Dividend Index.

The Dow Jones Emerging Markets Select Dividend Index measures the performance of the companies in emerging market countries that have provided relatively high dividend yields on a consistent basis over time.

Cost & Other Expenses

Cost is an important factor in selecting the right ETF, and cheaper funds can significantly outperform their more expensive cousins if all other fundamentals are the same.

With on par with most peer products in the space, this ETF has annual operating expenses of 0.49%.

It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 5.68%.

Sector Exposure and Top Holdings

Even though ETFs offer diversified exposure that minimizes single stock risk, investors should also look at the actual holdings inside the fund. Luckily, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.

Looking at individual holdings, Farglory Land Development Ltd accounts for about 2.20% of total assets, followed by Severstal (CHMF) and Seaspan Corp .

DVYE's top 10 holdings account for about 19.26% of its total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

The ETF return is roughly 0.27% and is down about -7.70% so far this year and in the past one year (as of 01/04/2019), respectively. DVYE has traded between $36.59 and $46.10 during this last 52-week period.

The fund has a beta of 0.78 and standard deviation of 16.96% for the trailing three-year period, which makes DVYE a medium risk choice in this particular space. With about 116 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Alternatives

IShares Emerging Markets Dividend ETF is a reasonable option for investors seeking to outperform the Broad Emerging Market ETFs segment of the market. However, there are other ETFs in the space which investors could consider.

IShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets ETF (IEMG - Free Report) tracks MSCI Emerging Markets Investable Market Index and the Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets ETF (VWO - Free Report) tracks FTSE Emerging Markets All Cap China An Inclusion Index. IShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets ETF has $48.37 B in assets, Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets ETF has $54.51 B. IEMG has an expense ratio of 0.14% and VWO charges 0.14%.

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