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Is WisdomTree International Hedged Quality Dividend Growth ETF (IHDG) a Strong ETF Right Now?

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A smart beta exchange traded fund, the WisdomTree International Hedged Quality Dividend Growth ETF (IHDG - Free Report) debuted on 05/07/2014, and offers broad exposure to the World 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.

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.

If you're the kind of investor who would rather try and beat the market through good stock selection, then smart beta funds are your best choice; this fund class is known for tracking non-cap weighted strategies.

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 managed by Wisdomtree, and has been able to amass over $1.68 billion, which makes it one of the larger ETFs in the World ETFs. IHDG seeks to match the performance of the WisdomTree International Hedged Quality Dividend Growth Index before fees and expenses.

The WisdomTree International Hedged Quality Dividend Growth Index is designed to provide exposure to the developed market companies while at the same time neutralizing exposure to fluctuations between the value of foreign currencies and the U.S. dollar.

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 0.58% for IHDG, making it on par with most peer products in the space.

It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 2.56%.

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.

Looking at individual holdings, Lvmh Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton Se (MC - Free Report) accounts for about 6.32% of total assets, followed by Unilever Plc (ULVR) and Novartis Ag .

IHDG's top 10 holdings account for about 38.69% of its total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

The ETF has added about 12.84% and it's up approximately 13.84% so far this year and in the past one year (as of 07/21/2023), respectively. IHDG has traded between $35.63 and $40.82 during this last 52-week period.

IHDG has a beta of 0.75 and standard deviation of 14.87% for the trailing three-year period, which makes the fund a medium risk choice in the space. With about 346 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Alternatives

WisdomTree International Hedged Quality Dividend Growth ETF is a reasonable option for investors seeking to outperform the World ETFs segment of the market. However, there are other ETFs in the space which investors could consider.

IShares Core Dividend Growth ETF (DGRO - Free Report) tracks Morningstar US Dividend Growth Index and the Vanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF (VIG - Free Report) tracks NASDAQ US Dividend Achievers Select Index. IShares Core Dividend Growth ETF has $24.44 billion in assets, Vanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF has $70.61 billion. DGRO has an expense ratio of 0.08% and VIG charges 0.06%.

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