Making its debut on 01/04/2010, smart beta exchange traded fund WisdomTree Europe Hedged Equity ETF (HEDJ Quick QuoteHEDJ - Free Report) provides investors broad exposure to the European Equity 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.

Investors who believe in market efficiency should consider market cap indexes, as they replicate market returns in a low-cost, convenient, and transparent way.

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.

Based on specific fundamental characteristics, or a combination of such, these indexes attempt to pick stocks that have a better chance of risk-return performance.

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

Managed by Wisdomtree, HEDJ has amassed assets over $1.76 billion, making 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

Since cheaper funds tend to produce better results than more expensive funds, assuming all other factors remain equal, it is important for investors to pay attention to an ETF's expense ratio.

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

HEDJ's 12-month trailing dividend yield is 1.81%.

Sector Exposure and Top Holdings

Even though ETFs offer diversified exposure that minimizes single stock risk, investors should also look at the actual holdings inside the fund. Luckily, 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 Asml Holding Nv (ASMLO) and Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria Sa (BBVA).

The top 10 holdings account for about 139.66% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

Year-to-date, the WisdomTree Europe Hedged Equity ETF has gained about 9.2% so far, and it's up approximately 11.72% over the last 12 months (as of 11/06/2026). HEDJ has traded between $49.82 $58.22 in this past 52-week period.

HEDJ has a beta of 0.75 and standard deviation of 15.54% for the trailing three-year period, which makes the fund a medium risk choice in the space. With about 132 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 Core MSCI Europe ETF (IEUR) tracks MSCI Europe Investable Market Index and the Vanguard European Stock Index Fund ETF Shares (VGK) tracks FTSE Developed Europe All Cap Index. iShares Core MSCI Europe ETF has $9.7 billion in assets, Vanguard European Stock Index Fund ETF Shares has $29.9 billion. IEUR has an expense ratio of 0.10% 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.