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

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Launched on 09/12/2016, the Fidelity High Dividend ETF (FDVV - Free Report) is a smart beta exchange traded fund offering broad exposure to the Style Box - All Cap Value category of the market.

What Are Smart Beta ETFs?

The ETF industry has traditionally been dominated by products based on market capitalization weighted indexes that are designed to represent the market or a particular segment of the market.

A good option for investors who believe in market efficiency, market cap weighted indexes offer 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.

By attempting to pick stocks that have a better chance of risk-return performance, non-cap weighted indexes are based on certain fundamental characteristics, or a combination of such.

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. FDVV has been able to amass assets over $799.70 million, making it one of the largest ETFs in the Style Box - All Cap Value. Before fees and expenses, this particular fund seeks to match the performance of the Fidelity Core Dividend Index.

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

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.

Annual operating expenses for FDVV are 0.29%, which makes it on par with most peer products in the space.

The fund has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 2.72%.

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.

Taking into account individual holdings, Apple Inc Common Stock Usd.00001 accounts for about 4.46% of the fund's total assets, followed by Microsoft Corp Common Stock Usd.00000625 (AAPL - Free Report) and Exxon Mobil Corp Common Stock (JPM - Free Report) .

FDVV's top 10 holdings account for about 26.23% of its total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

So far this year, FDVV has gained about 15.76%, and it's up approximately 47.88% in the last one year (as of 04/12/2021). During this past 52-week period, the fund has traded between $24 and $36.35.

The ETF has a beta of 1.07 and standard deviation of 22.57% for the trailing three-year period. With about 124 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 $906.44 million in assets, iShares Core S&P U.S. Value ETF has $9.31 billion. PEY has an expense ratio of 0.52% 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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