Launched on 09/30/2019, the Inspire International ETF (WWJD Quick QuoteWWJD - 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.

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.

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.

Even though this space provides many choices to investors--think one of the simplest methodologies like equal-weighting and more complicated ones like fundamental and volatility/momentum based weighting--not all have been able to deliver first-rate results.

Fund Sponsor & Index

The fund is sponsored by Inspire. It has amassed assets over $300.82 million, making it one of the average sized ETFs in the World ETFs. Before fees and expenses, WWJD seeks to match the performance of the INSPIRE GLOBAL HOPE EX-US INDEX .

The Inspire International Index selects foreign equity securities from a global universe of publicly traded equity securities of large capitalization foreign and emerging market companies which have an Inspire Impact Score of zero or higher.

Cost & Other Expenses

For ETF investors, expense ratios are an important factor when considering a fund's return; in the long-term, cheaper funds actually have the ability to outperform their more expensive cousins if all other things remain the same.

Operating expenses on an annual basis are 0.73% for this ETF, which makes it on par with most peer products in the space.

WWJD's 12-month trailing dividend yield is 2.91%.

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.

Looking at individual holdings, Delta Elec-Nvdr (DELTA-R) accounts for about 0.74% of total assets, followed by Geely Automobile and Advantest Corp.

The top 10 holdings account for about 6.53% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

So far this year, WWJD has added roughly 2.55%, and it's up approximately 7.73% in the last one year (as of 01/23/2025). During this past 52-week period, the fund has traded between $28.14 and $32.56.

The ETF has a beta of 0.99 and standard deviation of 17.05% for the trailing three-year period. With about 219 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 Quick QuoteESGU - Free Report) tracks MSCI USA ESG Focus Index and the JPMorgan Nasdaq Equity Premium Income ETF (JEPQ Quick QuoteJEPQ - Free Report) tracks ----------------------------------------. IShares ESG Aware MSCI USA ETF has $14.26 billion in assets, JPMorgan Nasdaq Equity Premium Income ETF has $22.09 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.