A smart beta exchange traded fund, the First Trust STOXX European Select Dividend ETF (FDD Quick QuoteFDD - Free Report) debuted on 08/27/2007, and offers broad exposure to the European Equity ETFs 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.

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

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.

Methodologies like equal-weighting, one of the simplest options out there, fundamental weighting, and volatility/momentum based weighting are all choices offered to investors in this space, but not all of them can deliver superior returns.

Fund Sponsor & Index

The fund is managed by First Trust Advisors. FDD has been able to amass assets over $269.34 million, making it one of the average sized ETFs in the European Equity ETFs. Before fees and expenses, FDD seeks to match the performance of the STOXX Europe Select Dividend 30 Index.

The STOXX Europe Select Dividend 30 Index consists of 30 high dividend-yielding securities selected from the STOXX Europe 600 Index.

Cost & Other Expenses

Since cheaper funds tend to produce better results than more expensive funds, assuming all other factors remain equal, it is important for investors to pay attention to an ETF's expense ratio.

Annual operating expenses for FDD are 0.58%, which makes it on par with most peer products in the space.

It's 12-month trailing dividend yield comes in at 4.44%.

Sector Exposure and Top Holdings

ETFs offer diversified exposure and thus minimize single stock risk, but it is still important to delve into a fund's holdings before investing. Most ETFs are very transparent products and many disclose their holdings on a daily basis.

When you look at individual holdings, Rio Tinto Plc (RIO.LN) accounts for about 6.38% of the fund's total assets, followed by A.p. Moeller - Maersk A/s (class A) (MAERSKA.DC) and Legal & General Group Plc (LGEN.LN).

The top 10 holdings account for about 43.82% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

So far this year, FDD has lost about -9.83%, and is down about -8.07% in the last one year (as of 04/20/2022). During this past 52-week period, the fund has traded between $12.01 and $15.54.

The ETF has a beta of 0.96 and standard deviation of 26.32% for the trailing three-year period, making it a medium risk choice in the space. With about 31 holdings, it has more concentrated exposure than peers.

Alternatives

First Trust STOXX European Select Dividend ETF is a reasonable option for investors seeking to outperform the European Equity ETFs segment of the market. However, there are other ETFs in the space which investors could consider.

JPMorgan BetaBuilders Europe ETF (BBEU Quick QuoteBBEU - Free Report) tracks MORNINGSTAR DEV EUROPE TARGET MKT EXP ID and the Vanguard FTSE Europe ETF (VGK Quick QuoteVGK - Free Report) tracks FTSE Developed Europe All Cap Index. JPMorgan BetaBuilders Europe ETF has $11.01 billion in assets, Vanguard FTSE Europe ETF has $19.95 billion. BBEU has an expense ratio of 0.09% and VGK charges 0.08%.

Investors looking for cheaper and lower-risk options should consider traditional market cap weighted ETFs that aim to match the returns of the European Equity 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.