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Is iShares Emerging Markets Dividend ETF (DVYE) a Strong ETF Right Now?

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The iShares Emerging Markets Dividend ETF (DVYE - Free Report) was launched on 02/23/2012, and is a smart beta exchange traded fund designed to offer broad exposure to the Broad Emerging Market ETFs category of the market.

What Are Smart Beta ETFs?

The ETF industry has long been dominated by products based on market cap weighted indexes, a strategy created to reflect the market or a particular market segment.

Market cap weighted indexes work great for investors who believe in market efficiency. They provide a low-cost, convenient and transparent way of replicating market returns.

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.

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.

This area offers many different investment choices, such as simplest equal-weighting, fundamental weighting and volatility/momentum based weighting methodologies; however, not all of these strategies can deliver superior results.

Fund Sponsor & Index

The fund is managed by Blackrock. DVYE has been able to amass assets over $1.27 billion, making it one of the larger ETFs in the Broad Emerging Market ETFs. DVYE seeks to match the performance of the Dow Jones Emerging Markets Select Dividend Index before fees and expenses.

The Dow Jones Emerging Markets Select Dividend Index measures the performance of the companies in emerging market countries that have provided relatively high dividend yields on a consistent basis over time.

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.

Annual operating expenses for this ETF are 0.50%, making it on par with most peer products in the space.

DVYE's 12-month trailing dividend yield is 5.20%.

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.

Taking into account individual holdings, Petroleo Brasileiro Pref Sa (PETR4) accounts for about 4.32% of the fund's total assets, followed by Cia Vale Do Rio Doce Sh (VALE3) and Evergreen Marine Corp (taiwan) Ltd.

DVYE's top 10 holdings account for about 27.54% of its total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

So far this year, DVYE return is roughly 8.9%, and was up about 25.89% in the last one year (as of 05/18/2026). During this past 52-week period, the fund has traded between $27.87 and $35.77.

DVYE has a beta of 0.51 and standard deviation of 15.60% for the trailing three-year period, which makes the fund a medium risk choice in the space. With about 144 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk .

Alternatives

iShares Emerging Markets Dividend ETF is not a suitable option for investors seeking to outperform the Broad Emerging Market ETFs segment of the market. Instead, there are other ETFs in the space which investors should consider.

Vanguard Emerging Markets Stock Index Fund ETF Shares (VWO) tracks FTSE Emerging Markets All Cap China A Inclusion Index and the iShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets ETF (IEMG) tracks MSCI Emerging Markets Investable Market Index. Vanguard Emerging Markets Stock Index Fund ETF Shares has $119.05 billion in assets, iShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets ETF has $154.44 billion. VWO has an expense ratio of 0.06% and IEMG changes 0.09%.

Investors looking for cheaper and lower-risk options should consider traditional market cap weighted ETFs that aim to match the returns of the Broad Emerging Market 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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