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Is Inspire International ETF (WWJD) a Strong ETF Right Now?

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Making its debut on 09/30/2019, smart beta exchange traded fund Inspire International ETF (WWJD - Free Report) provides investors broad exposure to the World ETFs category of the market.

What Are Smart Beta ETFs?

The ETF industry has traditionally been dominated by products based on market capitalization weighted indexes that are designed to represent the market or a particular segment of the market.

Investors who believe in market efficiency should consider market cap indexes, as they replicate market returns in a low-cost, convenient, and transparent way.

There are some investors, though, who think it's possible to beat the market with great stock selection; this group likely invests in another class of funds known as smart beta, which track 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

Managed by Inspire, WWJD has amassed assets over $299.97 million, making it one of the average sized ETFs in the World ETFs. Before fees and expenses, this particular fund seeks to match the performance of the INSPIRE GLOBAL HOPE EX-US INDEX .

The Inspire Global Hope ex-US Index selects foreign and domestic equity securities from all publicly traded international and emerging market large cap companies that is designed to assign a score to a particular security based on the alignment with biblical values and the positive impact that company has on the world through various environmental, social and governance criterion.

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 0.73% for this ETF, which makes it on par with most peer products in the space.

It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 2.72%.

Sector Exposure and Top Holdings

It is important to delve into an ETF's holdings before investing despite the many upsides to these kinds of funds like diversified exposure, which minimizes single stock risk. And, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.

When you look at individual holdings, Gulf Energy De-R (GULF-R) accounts for about 0.72% of the fund's total assets, followed by Delta Elec-Nvdr (DELTA-R) and Wisetech Global (WTC).

WWJD's top 10 holdings account for about 6.25% of its total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

The ETF has added roughly 3.06% and is up about 12.02% so far this year and in the past one year (as of 11/18/2024), respectively. WWJD has traded between $27.60 and $32.56 during this last 52-week period.

WWJD has a beta of 1.01 and standard deviation of 17.19% for the trailing three-year period. With about 224 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Alternatives

Inspire International ETF is not a suitable option for investors seeking to outperform the World ETFs segment of the market. Instead, there are other ETFs in the space which investors should consider.

IShares ESG Aware MSCI USA ETF (ESGU - Free Report) tracks MSCI USA ESG Focus Index and the JPMorgan Nasdaq Equity Premium Income ETF (JEPQ - Free Report) tracks ----------------------------------------. IShares ESG Aware MSCI USA ETF has $13.84 billion in assets, JPMorgan Nasdaq Equity Premium Income ETF has $18.24 billion. ESGU has an expense ratio of 0.15% and JEPQ charges 0.35%.

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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