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Is Vident International Equity Strategy ETF (VIDI) a Strong ETF Right Now?

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Launched on 10/29/2013, the Vident International Equity Strategy ETF (VIDI - Free Report) is a smart beta exchange traded fund offering 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.

Non-cap weighted indexes try to choose stocks that have a better chance of risk-return performance, which is based on specific fundamental characteristics, or a mix of other 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

Because the fund has amassed over $337.59 million, this makes it one of the larger ETFs in the World ETFs. VIDI is managed by Vident Financial. Before fees and expenses, this particular fund seeks to match the performance of the Vident International Equity Index.

The Vident Core International Equity Index is an international equity index that combines principles-based country and securities selection with sophisticated risk management. The index balances risk across developed and emerging economies and emphasizes those with favorable conditions for growth.

Cost & Other Expenses

Cost is an important factor in selecting the right ETF, and cheaper funds can significantly outperform their more expensive cousins if all other fundamentals are the same.

Annual operating expenses for this ETF are 0.61%, making it on par with most peer products in the space.

It's 12-month trailing dividend yield comes in at 3.65%.

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.

Taking into account individual holdings, China Taiping Insurance Holdings Co Ltd accounts for about 0.87% of the fund's total assets, followed by Jd.com Inc and Geely Automobile Holdings Ltd.

Its top 10 holdings account for approximately 7.28% of VIDI's total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

The ETF has added about 6.31% and is up about 18.48% so far this year and in the past one year (as of 11/13/2024), respectively. VIDI has traded between $23.10 and $27.19 during this last 52-week period.

The fund has a beta of 0.95 and standard deviation of 16.19% for the trailing three-year period, which makes VIDI a medium risk choice in this particular space. With about 250 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Alternatives

Vident International Equity Strategy 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.

Vanguard Total International Stock ETF (VXUS - Free Report) tracks FTSE Global All Cap ex US Index and the Vanguard FTSE Developed Markets ETF (VEA - Free Report) tracks FTSE Developed All Cap ex US Index. Vanguard Total International Stock ETF has $76.06 billion in assets, Vanguard FTSE Developed Markets ETF has $135.68 billion. VXUS has an expense ratio of 0.08% and VEA 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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