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Is FlexShares International Quality Dividend ETF (IQDF) a Strong ETF Right Now?
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Launched on 04/12/2013, the FlexShares International Quality Dividend ETF (IQDF - 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?
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.
Market cap weighted indexes offer a low-cost, convenient, and transparent way of replicating market returns, and are a good option for investors who believe in market efficiency.
On the other hand, some investors who believe that it is possible to beat the market by superior stock selection opt to invest in another class of funds that track non-cap weighted strategies--popularly known as smart beta.
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
The fund is managed by Flexshares, and has been able to amass over $1.04 billion, which makes it one of the larger ETFs in the World ETFs. This particular fund seeks to match the performance of the Northern Trust International Quality Dividend Index before fees and expenses.
The Northern Trust International Quality Dividend Index is designed to provide exposure to a high-quality income-oriented portfolio of long-only international securities issued by non-U.S.-based companies, with an emphasis on long-term capital growth and a targeted overall beta that is similar to that of the Northern Trust International Large Cap Index.
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.
With one of the cheaper products in the space, this ETF has annual operating expenses of 0.47%.
It's 12-month trailing dividend yield comes in at 3.07%.
Sector Exposure and Top Holdings
While ETFs offer diversified exposure, which minimizes single stock risk, a deep look into a fund's holdings is a valuable exercise. And, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.
When you look at individual holdings, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd Commonaccounts for about 3.2% of the fund's total assets, followed by Roche Holding Ag Common Stock Chf 0 (ROG) and Hsbc Holdings Plc Common Stock Gbp 0.5 (HSBA).
Its top 10 holdings account for approximately 16.67% of IQDF's total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
Year-to-date, the FlexShares International Quality Dividend ETF return is roughly 6.58% so far, and it's up approximately 37.37% over the last 12 months (as of 02/06/2026). IQDF has traded between $22.10 $32.96 in this past 52-week period.
IQDF has a beta of 0.69 and standard deviation of 13.55% for the trailing three-year period, which makes the fund a medium risk choice in the space. With about 268 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk .
Alternatives
FlexShares International Quality Dividend 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.
FlexShares International Quality Dividend Dynamic ETF(IQDY) tracks Northern Trust International Quality Dividend Dynamic Index The fund has $97.48 million in assets. IQDY has an expense ratio of 0.47%.
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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Is FlexShares International Quality Dividend ETF (IQDF) a Strong ETF Right Now?
Launched on 04/12/2013, the FlexShares International Quality Dividend ETF (IQDF - 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?
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.
Market cap weighted indexes offer a low-cost, convenient, and transparent way of replicating market returns, and are a good option for investors who believe in market efficiency.
On the other hand, some investors who believe that it is possible to beat the market by superior stock selection opt to invest in another class of funds that track non-cap weighted strategies--popularly known as smart beta.
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
The fund is managed by Flexshares, and has been able to amass over $1.04 billion, which makes it one of the larger ETFs in the World ETFs. This particular fund seeks to match the performance of the Northern Trust International Quality Dividend Index before fees and expenses.
The Northern Trust International Quality Dividend Index is designed to provide exposure to a high-quality income-oriented portfolio of long-only international securities issued by non-U.S.-based companies, with an emphasis on long-term capital growth and a targeted overall beta that is similar to that of the Northern Trust International Large Cap Index.
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.
With one of the cheaper products in the space, this ETF has annual operating expenses of 0.47%.
It's 12-month trailing dividend yield comes in at 3.07%.
Sector Exposure and Top Holdings
While ETFs offer diversified exposure, which minimizes single stock risk, a deep look into a fund's holdings is a valuable exercise. And, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.
When you look at individual holdings, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd Commonaccounts for about 3.2% of the fund's total assets, followed by Roche Holding Ag Common Stock Chf 0 (ROG) and Hsbc Holdings Plc Common Stock Gbp 0.5 (HSBA).
Its top 10 holdings account for approximately 16.67% of IQDF's total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
Year-to-date, the FlexShares International Quality Dividend ETF return is roughly 6.58% so far, and it's up approximately 37.37% over the last 12 months (as of 02/06/2026). IQDF has traded between $22.10 $32.96 in this past 52-week period.
IQDF has a beta of 0.69 and standard deviation of 13.55% for the trailing three-year period, which makes the fund a medium risk choice in the space. With about 268 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk .
Alternatives
FlexShares International Quality Dividend 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.
FlexShares International Quality Dividend Dynamic ETF(IQDY) tracks Northern Trust International Quality Dividend Dynamic Index The fund has $97.48 million in assets. IQDY has an expense ratio of 0.47%.
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.