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Is FlexShares Quality Dividend Defensive ETF (QDEF) a Strong ETF Right Now?
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Making its debut on 12/14/2012, smart beta exchange traded fund FlexShares Quality Dividend Defensive ETF (QDEF - Free Report) provides investors broad exposure to the Style Box - All Cap Blend 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.
Investors who believe in market efficiency should consider market cap indexes, as they replicate market returns in a low-cost, convenient, and transparent way.
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.
This kind of index follows this same mindset, as it attempts to pick stocks that have better chances of risk-return performance; non-cap weighted strategies base selection on certain fundamental characteristics, or a mix of such characteristics.
Methodologies like equal-weighting, one of the simplest options out there, fundamental weighting, and volatility/momentum based weighting are all choices offered to investors in this space, but not all of them can deliver superior returns.
Fund Sponsor & Index
Managed by Flexshares, QDEF has amassed assets over $475.83 million, making it one of the average sized ETFs in the Style Box - All Cap Blend. QDEF, before fees and expenses, seeks to match the performance of the Northern Trust Quality Dividend Defensive Index.
The Northern Trust Quality Dividend Defensive Index is designed to provide exposure to a high-quality income-oriented portfolio of long-only U.S. equity securities, with an emphasis on long-term capital growth and a targeted overall beta that is generally between 0.5 to 1.0 times that of the Northern Trust 1250 Index that are selected based on expected dividend payment and fundamental factors.
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.
With on par with most peer products in the space, this ETF has annual operating expenses of 0.37%.
It's 12-month trailing dividend yield comes in at 1.66%.
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.
For QDEF, it has heaviest allocation in the Information Technology sector --about 32.2% of the portfolio --while Healthcare and Financials round out the top three.
Taking into account individual holdings, Apple Inc Common Stock Usd 0.00001 (AAPL) accounts for about 7.36% of the fund's total assets, followed by Nvidia Corp Common Stock Usd 0.001 (NVDA) and Microsoft Corp Common Stock Usd 0.00000625 (MSFT).
Its top 10 holdings account for approximately 38.58% of QDEF's total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
The ETF has gained about 14.04% so far this year and it's up approximately 12.45% in the last one year (as of 11/19/2025). In the past 52-week period, it has traded between $62.50 and $81.04
The ETF has a beta of 0.85 and standard deviation of 12.27% for the trailing three-year period, making it a medium risk choice in the space. With about 130 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk .
Alternatives
FlexShares Quality Dividend Defensive ETF is a reasonable option for investors seeking to outperform the Style Box - All Cap Blend segment of the market. However, there are other ETFs in the space which investors could consider.
iShares Core S&P Total U.S. Stock Market ETF (ITOT) tracks S&P Total Market Index and the Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF (VTI) tracks CRSP US Total Market Index. iShares Core S&P Total U.S. Stock Market ETF has $77.46 billion in assets, Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF has $545.48 billion. ITOT has an expense ratio of 0.03% and VTI changes 0.03%.
Investors looking for cheaper and lower-risk options should consider traditional market cap weighted ETFs that aim to match the returns of the Style Box - All Cap Blend
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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Is FlexShares Quality Dividend Defensive ETF (QDEF) a Strong ETF Right Now?
Making its debut on 12/14/2012, smart beta exchange traded fund FlexShares Quality Dividend Defensive ETF (QDEF - Free Report) provides investors broad exposure to the Style Box - All Cap Blend 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.
Investors who believe in market efficiency should consider market cap indexes, as they replicate market returns in a low-cost, convenient, and transparent way.
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.
This kind of index follows this same mindset, as it attempts to pick stocks that have better chances of risk-return performance; non-cap weighted strategies base selection on certain fundamental characteristics, or a mix of such characteristics.
Methodologies like equal-weighting, one of the simplest options out there, fundamental weighting, and volatility/momentum based weighting are all choices offered to investors in this space, but not all of them can deliver superior returns.
Fund Sponsor & Index
Managed by Flexshares, QDEF has amassed assets over $475.83 million, making it one of the average sized ETFs in the Style Box - All Cap Blend. QDEF, before fees and expenses, seeks to match the performance of the Northern Trust Quality Dividend Defensive Index.
The Northern Trust Quality Dividend Defensive Index is designed to provide exposure to a high-quality income-oriented portfolio of long-only U.S. equity securities, with an emphasis on long-term capital growth and a targeted overall beta that is generally between 0.5 to 1.0 times that of the Northern Trust 1250 Index that are selected based on expected dividend payment and fundamental factors.
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.
With on par with most peer products in the space, this ETF has annual operating expenses of 0.37%.
It's 12-month trailing dividend yield comes in at 1.66%.
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.
For QDEF, it has heaviest allocation in the Information Technology sector --about 32.2% of the portfolio --while Healthcare and Financials round out the top three.
Taking into account individual holdings, Apple Inc Common Stock Usd 0.00001 (AAPL) accounts for about 7.36% of the fund's total assets, followed by Nvidia Corp Common Stock Usd 0.001 (NVDA) and Microsoft Corp Common Stock Usd 0.00000625 (MSFT).
Its top 10 holdings account for approximately 38.58% of QDEF's total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
The ETF has gained about 14.04% so far this year and it's up approximately 12.45% in the last one year (as of 11/19/2025). In the past 52-week period, it has traded between $62.50 and $81.04
The ETF has a beta of 0.85 and standard deviation of 12.27% for the trailing three-year period, making it a medium risk choice in the space. With about 130 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk .
Alternatives
FlexShares Quality Dividend Defensive ETF is a reasonable option for investors seeking to outperform the Style Box - All Cap Blend segment of the market. However, there are other ETFs in the space which investors could consider.
iShares Core S&P Total U.S. Stock Market ETF (ITOT) tracks S&P Total Market Index and the Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF (VTI) tracks CRSP US Total Market Index. iShares Core S&P Total U.S. Stock Market ETF has $77.46 billion in assets, Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF has $545.48 billion. ITOT has an expense ratio of 0.03% and VTI changes 0.03%.
Investors looking for cheaper and lower-risk options should consider traditional market cap weighted ETFs that aim to match the returns of the Style Box - All Cap Blend
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.