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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.
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.
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.
The smart beta space gives investors many different choices, from equal-weighting, one of the simplest strategies, to more complicated ones like fundamental and volatility/momentum based weighting. However, not all of these methodologies have been able to deliver remarkable returns.
Fund Sponsor & Index
The fund is sponsored by Flexshares. It has amassed assets over $538.53 million, making it one of the average sized ETFs in the Style Box - All Cap Blend. Before fees and expenses, QDEF 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.
Annual operating expenses for QDEF are 0.39%, which makes it on par with most peer products in the space.
QDEF's 12-month trailing dividend yield is 1.61%.
Sector Exposure and Top Holdings
Even though ETFs offer diversified exposure which minimizes single stock risk, it is still important to look into a fund's holdings before investing. Luckily, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.
This ETF has heaviest allocation in the Information Technology sector - about 32.6% of the portfolio. Financials and Healthcare round out the top three.
Taking into account individual holdings, Apple Inc Common Stock Usd 0.00001 (AAPL) accounts for about 7.58% of the fund's total assets, followed by Nvidia Corp Common Stock Usd 0.001 (NVDA) and Broadcom Inc Common Stock Usd (AVGO).
Its top 10 holdings account for approximately 36.28% of QDEF's total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
The ETF has added roughly 7.14% and is up roughly 20.75% so far this year and in the past one year (as of 06/09/2026), respectively. QDEF has traded between $71.76 and $88.29 during this last 52-week period.
QDEF has a beta of 0.83 and standard deviation of 11.71% for the trailing three-year period, which makes the fund a medium risk choice in the space. With about 136 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 Index Fund ETF Shares (VTI) tracks CRSP US Total Market Index. iShares Core S&P Total U.S. Stock Market ETF has $91.73 billion in assets, Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund ETF Shares has $647.18 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.
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.
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.
The smart beta space gives investors many different choices, from equal-weighting, one of the simplest strategies, to more complicated ones like fundamental and volatility/momentum based weighting. However, not all of these methodologies have been able to deliver remarkable returns.
Fund Sponsor & Index
The fund is sponsored by Flexshares. It has amassed assets over $538.53 million, making it one of the average sized ETFs in the Style Box - All Cap Blend. Before fees and expenses, QDEF 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.
Annual operating expenses for QDEF are 0.39%, which makes it on par with most peer products in the space.
QDEF's 12-month trailing dividend yield is 1.61%.
Sector Exposure and Top Holdings
Even though ETFs offer diversified exposure which minimizes single stock risk, it is still important to look into a fund's holdings before investing. Luckily, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.
This ETF has heaviest allocation in the Information Technology sector - about 32.6% of the portfolio. Financials and Healthcare round out the top three.
Taking into account individual holdings, Apple Inc Common Stock Usd 0.00001 (AAPL) accounts for about 7.58% of the fund's total assets, followed by Nvidia Corp Common Stock Usd 0.001 (NVDA) and Broadcom Inc Common Stock Usd (AVGO).
Its top 10 holdings account for approximately 36.28% of QDEF's total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
The ETF has added roughly 7.14% and is up roughly 20.75% so far this year and in the past one year (as of 06/09/2026), respectively. QDEF has traded between $71.76 and $88.29 during this last 52-week period.
QDEF has a beta of 0.83 and standard deviation of 11.71% for the trailing three-year period, which makes the fund a medium risk choice in the space. With about 136 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 Index Fund ETF Shares (VTI) tracks CRSP US Total Market Index. iShares Core S&P Total U.S. Stock Market ETF has $91.73 billion in assets, Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund ETF Shares has $647.18 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.