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Is WisdomTree International Equity ETF (DWM) a Strong ETF Right Now?

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Making its debut on 06/16/2006, smart beta exchange traded fund WisdomTree International Equity ETF (DWM - Free Report) provides investors broad exposure to the Broad Developed World 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.

Market cap weighted indexes work great for investors who believe in market efficiency. They provide 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.

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.

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

DWM is managed by Wisdomtree, and this fund has amassed over $572.72 million, which makes it one of the average sized ETFs in the Broad Developed World ETFs. This particular fund, before fees and expenses, seeks to match the performance of the WisdomTree International Equity Index.

The WisdomTree International Equity Index is a fundamentally weighted Index that measures the performance of dividend-paying companies in the industrialized world, excluding Canada and the United States.

Cost & Other Expenses

When considering an ETF's total return, expense ratios are an important factor. And, cheaper funds can significantly outperform their more expensive cousins in the long term if all other factors remain equal.

Operating expenses on an annual basis are 0.48% for DWM, making it on par with most peer products in the space.

The fund has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 4.03%.

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.

Taking into account individual holdings, Hsbc Holdings Plc (HSBA) accounts for about 1.74% of the fund's total assets, followed by Nestle Sa (NESN) and Novartis Ag .

The top 10 holdings account for about 12.85% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

The ETF has gained about 2.89% and is up about 11.53% so far this year and in the past one year (as of 03/07/2024), respectively. DWM has traded between $46.50 and $54.03 during this last 52-week period.

DWM has a beta of 0.82 and standard deviation of 15.28% for the trailing three-year period, which makes the fund a low risk choice in the space. With about 1053 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Alternatives

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

IShares MSCI EAFE ETF (EFA - Free Report) tracks MSCI EAFE Index and the iShares Core MSCI EAFE ETF (IEFA - Free Report) tracks MSCI EAFE Investable Market Index. IShares MSCI EAFE ETF has $52.62 billion in assets, iShares Core MSCI EAFE ETF has $112.38 billion. EFA has an expense ratio of 0.33% and IEFA charges 0.07%.

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