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Is WisdomTree Europe Hedged Equity ETF (HEDJ) a Strong ETF Right Now?

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The WisdomTree Europe Hedged Equity ETF (HEDJ - Free Report) was launched on 01/04/2010, and is a smart beta exchange traded fund designed to offer broad exposure to the European Equity 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.

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.

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.

These indexes attempt to select stocks that have better chances of risk-return performance, based on certain fundamental characteristics or a combination 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

HEDJ is managed by Wisdomtree, and this fund has amassed over $1.83 billion, which makes it one of the larger ETFs in the European Equity ETFs. HEDJ, before fees and expenses, seeks to match the performance of the WisdomTree Europe Hedged Equity Index.

The WisdomTree Europe Hedged Equity Index is designed to provide exposure to European equities while at the same time neutralizing exposure to fluctuations between the Euro and the U.S. dollar.

Cost & Other Expenses

Expense ratios are an important factor in the return of an ETF and in the long-term, cheaper funds can significantly outperform their more expensive cousins, other things remaining the same.

With on par with most peer products in the space, this ETF has annual operating expenses of 0.58%.

It's 12-month trailing dividend yield comes in at 1.80%.

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.

Looking at individual holdings, European Euro (eur) accounts for about 100% of total assets, followed by Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria Sa (BBVA) and Asml Holding Nv (ASMLO).

The top 10 holdings account for about 138.35% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

Year-to-date, the WisdomTree Europe Hedged Equity ETF has added roughly 8.36% so far, and it's up approximately 19.99% over the last 12 months (as of 07/02/2026). HEDJ has traded between $47.63 $58.13 in this past 52-week period.

HEDJ has a beta of 0.75 and standard deviation of 15.61% for the trailing three-year period, which makes the fund a medium risk choice in the space. With about 137 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk .

Alternatives

WisdomTree Europe Hedged Equity ETF is not a suitable option for investors seeking to outperform the European Equity ETFs segment of the market. Instead, there are other ETFs in the space which investors should consider.

iShares MSCI Eurozone ETF (EZU) tracks MSCI EMU Index and the Vanguard European Stock Index Fund ETF Shares (VGK) tracks FTSE Developed Europe All Cap Index. iShares MSCI Eurozone ETF has $9.47 billion in assets, Vanguard European Stock Index Fund ETF Shares has $29.73 billion. EZU has an expense ratio of 0.50% and VGK changes 0.06%.

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