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Is WisdomTree Europe Hedged Equity ETF (HEDJ) a Strong ETF Right Now?
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A smart beta exchange traded fund, the WisdomTree Europe Hedged Equity ETF (HEDJ - Free Report) debuted on 01/04/2010, 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.
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.
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 managed by Wisdomtree, and has been able to amass over $1.42 billion, which makes it one of the larger ETFs in the European Equity ETFs. Before fees and expenses, this particular fund seeks to match the performance of the WisdomTree Europe Hedged Equity Index.
The WisdomTree Europe Hedged Equity Index is designed to provide exposure to European equities while at the same time neutralizing exposure to fluctuations between the Euro and the U.S. dollar.
Cost & Other Expenses
Investors should also pay attention to an ETF's expense ratio. Lower cost products will produce better results than those with a higher cost, assuming all other metrics remain the same.
Annual operating expenses for this ETF are 0.58%, making it on par with most peer products in the space.
It's 12-month trailing dividend yield comes in at 3.31%.
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, Linde Plc (LIN - Free Report) accounts for about 5.17% of total assets, followed by Asml Holding Nv (ASML - Free Report) and Sanofi Sa (SAN - Free Report) .
HEDJ's top 10 holdings account for about 36.39% of its total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
The ETF has lost about -16.65% and is down about -11.67% so far this year and in the past one year (as of 07/13/2022), respectively. HEDJ has traded between $64.93 and $82.19 during this last 52-week period.
The fund has a beta of 0.84 and standard deviation of 24.18% for the trailing three-year period, which makes HEDJ a medium risk choice in this particular space. With about 133 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.
Alternatives
WisdomTree Europe Hedged Equity 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 - Free Report) tracks MORNINGSTAR DEV EUROPE TARGET MKT EXP ID and the Vanguard FTSE Europe ETF (VGK - Free Report) tracks FTSE Developed Europe All Cap Index. JPMorgan BetaBuilders Europe ETF has $4.95 billion in assets, Vanguard FTSE Europe ETF has $15.47 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.
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Is WisdomTree Europe Hedged Equity ETF (HEDJ) a Strong ETF Right Now?
A smart beta exchange traded fund, the WisdomTree Europe Hedged Equity ETF (HEDJ - Free Report) debuted on 01/04/2010, 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.
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.
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 managed by Wisdomtree, and has been able to amass over $1.42 billion, which makes it one of the larger ETFs in the European Equity ETFs. Before fees and expenses, this particular fund seeks to match the performance of the WisdomTree Europe Hedged Equity Index.
The WisdomTree Europe Hedged Equity Index is designed to provide exposure to European equities while at the same time neutralizing exposure to fluctuations between the Euro and the U.S. dollar.
Cost & Other Expenses
Investors should also pay attention to an ETF's expense ratio. Lower cost products will produce better results than those with a higher cost, assuming all other metrics remain the same.
Annual operating expenses for this ETF are 0.58%, making it on par with most peer products in the space.
It's 12-month trailing dividend yield comes in at 3.31%.
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, Linde Plc (LIN - Free Report) accounts for about 5.17% of total assets, followed by Asml Holding Nv (ASML - Free Report) and Sanofi Sa (SAN - Free Report) .
HEDJ's top 10 holdings account for about 36.39% of its total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
The ETF has lost about -16.65% and is down about -11.67% so far this year and in the past one year (as of 07/13/2022), respectively. HEDJ has traded between $64.93 and $82.19 during this last 52-week period.
The fund has a beta of 0.84 and standard deviation of 24.18% for the trailing three-year period, which makes HEDJ a medium risk choice in this particular space. With about 133 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.
Alternatives
WisdomTree Europe Hedged Equity 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 - Free Report) tracks MORNINGSTAR DEV EUROPE TARGET MKT EXP ID and the Vanguard FTSE Europe ETF (VGK - Free Report) tracks FTSE Developed Europe All Cap Index. JPMorgan BetaBuilders Europe ETF has $4.95 billion in assets, Vanguard FTSE Europe ETF has $15.47 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.