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Is Fidelity High Dividend ETF (FDVV) a Strong ETF Right Now?

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Making its debut on 09/12/2016, smart beta exchange traded fund Fidelity High Dividend ETF (FDVV - Free Report) provides investors broad exposure to the Style Box - All Cap Value 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.

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.

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.

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 Fidelity, and has been able to amass over $257.22 M, which makes it one of the average sized ETFs in the Style Box - All Cap Value. This particular fund seeks to match the performance of the Fidelity Core Dividend Index before fees and expenses.

The Fidelity Core Dividend Index is designed to reflect the performance of stocks of large and mid-capitalization dividend-paying companies that are expected to continue to pay and grow their dividends.

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 0.29% for FDVV, making it on par with most peer products in the space.

FDVV's 12-month trailing dividend yield is 3.84%.

Sector Exposure and Top Holdings

Most ETFs are very transparent products, and disclose their holdings on a daily basis. ETFs also offer diversified exposure, which minimizes single stock risk, though it's still important for investors to research a fund's holdings.

When you look at individual holdings, Verizon Communications Inc (VZ - Free Report) accounts for about 3.77% of the fund's total assets, followed by Microsoft Corp (MSFT - Free Report) and Apple Inc (AAPL - Free Report) .

FDVV's top 10 holdings account for about 27.95% of its total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

The ETF has added roughly 5.35% and is down about -0.55% so far this year and in the past one year (as of 01/23/2019), respectively. FDVV has traded between $26 and $31.10 during this last 52-week period.

The fund has a beta of 0.81 and standard deviation of 11.17% for the trailing three-year period. With about 110 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Alternatives

Fidelity High Dividend ETF is a reasonable option for investors seeking to outperform the Style Box - All Cap Value segment of the market. However, there are other ETFs in the space which investors could consider.

Invesco High Yield Equity Dividend Achievers ETF (PEY - Free Report) tracks NASDAQ US Dividend Achievers 50 Index and the iShares Core S&P U.S. Value ETF (IUSV - Free Report) tracks S&P 900 Value Index. Invesco High Yield Equity Dividend Achievers ETF has $702.21 M in assets, iShares Core S&P U.S. Value ETF has $5.01 B. PEY has an expense ratio of 0.54% and IUSV charges 0.04%.

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

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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