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

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Making its debut on 02/23/2012, smart beta exchange traded fund iShares Emerging Markets Dividend ETF (DVYE - Free Report) provides investors broad exposure to the Broad Emerging Market ETFs category of the market.

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.

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.

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.

While this space offers a number of choices to investors, including simplest equal-weighting, fundamental weighting and volatility/momentum based weighting methodologies, not all these strategies have been able to deliver superior results.

Fund Sponsor & Index

The fund is sponsored by Blackrock. It has amassed assets over $676.43 million, making it one of the larger ETFs in the Broad Emerging Market ETFs. Before fees and expenses, DVYE 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

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.

Operating expenses on an annual basis are 0.49% for this ETF, which makes it on par with most peer products in the space.

The fund has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 9.06%.

Sector Exposure and Top Holdings

While ETFs offer diversified exposure, which minimizes single stock risk, a deep look into a fund's holdings is a valuable exercise. And, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.

Looking at individual holdings, Adaro Energy Tbk accounts for about 3.07% of total assets, followed by Yankuang Energy Group Company Ltd and Tambang Batubara Bukit Asam (PTBA).

The top 10 holdings account for about 22.33% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

The ETF has lost about -20.75% and is down about -17.32% so far this year and in the past one year (as of 05/02/2022), respectively. DVYE has traded between $29.89 and $41.57 during this last 52-week period.

The fund has a beta of 0.83 and standard deviation of 22.76% 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 A Inclusion Index. IShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets ETF has $69.63 billion in assets, Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets ETF has $73.18 billion. IEMG has an expense ratio of 0.09% and VWO 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 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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