A smart beta exchange traded fund, the Inspire International ETF (WWJD Quick QuoteWWJD - Free Report) debuted on 09/30/2019, and offers broad exposure to the World ETFs 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.

By attempting to pick stocks that have a better chance of risk-return performance, non-cap weighted indexes are based on certain fundamental characteristics, or a combination of such.

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

The fund is managed by Inspire, and has been able to amass over $563.81 million, which makes it one of the larger ETFs in the World ETFs. WWJD seeks to match the performance of the INSPIRE INTERNATIONAL INDEX before fees and expenses.

The Inspire International Index selects foreign equity securities from a global universe of publicly traded equity securities of large capitalization foreign and emerging market companies which have an Inspire Impact Score of zero or higher.

Cost & Other Expenses

When considering an ETF's total return, expense ratios are an important factor. And, cheaper funds can significantly outperform their more expensive cousins in the long term if all other factors remain equal.

Annual operating expenses for this ETF are 0.61%, making it on par with most peer products in the space.

It's 12-month trailing dividend yield comes in at 2.49%.

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.

When you look at individual holdings, Csl Ltd (CSL) accounts for about 0.75% of the fund's total assets, followed by Clariant Ag-reg (CLN) and Equinor Asa (EQNR).

WWJD's top 10 holdings account for about 6.48% of its total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

The ETF has gained about 9.99% and was up about 12.5% so far this year and in the past one year (as of 10/26/2026), respectively. WWJD has traded between $34.66 and $41.31 during this last 52-week period.

WWJD has a beta of 0.77 and standard deviation of 14.57% for the trailing three-year period. With about 228 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk .

Alternatives

Inspire International ETF is not a suitable option for investors seeking to outperform the World ETFs segment of the market. Instead, there are other ETFs in the space which investors should consider.

Vanguard ESG U.S. Stock ETF Shares (ESGV) tracks FTSE US ALL CAP CHOICE INDEX and the iShares ESG Aware MSCI USA ETF (ESGU) tracks MSCI USA ESG Focus Index. Vanguard ESG U.S. Stock ETF Shares has $13.28 billion in assets, iShares ESG Aware MSCI USA ETF has $18.03 billion. ESGV has an expense ratio of 0.09% and ESGU changes 0.15%.

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.