Is WisdomTree International Hedged Quality Dividend Growth Fund (IHDG) a Strong ETF Right Now?

Making its debut on 05/07/2014, smart beta exchange traded fund WisdomTree International Hedged Quality Dividend Growth Fund (IHDG) provides investors broad exposure to the Broad Developed World ETFs category of the market.

What Are Smart Beta ETFs?

Market cap weighted indexes were created to reflect the market, or a specific segment of the market, and the ETF industry has traditionally been dominated by products based on this strategy.

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

If you're the kind of investor who would rather try and beat the market through good stock selection, then smart beta funds are your best choice; this fund class is known for tracking non-cap weighted strategies.

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.

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 managed by Wisdomtree. IHDG has been able to amass assets over $489.52 M, making it one of the average sized ETFs in the Broad Developed World ETFs. IHDG, before fees and expenses, seeks to match the performance of the WisdomTree International Hedged Quality Dividend Growth Index.

The WisdomTree International Hedged Quality Dividend Growth Index is designed to provide exposure to the developed market companies while at the same time neutralizing exposure to fluctuations between the value of foreign currencies and the U.S. dollar.

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.

With one of the more expensive products in the space, this ETF has annual operating expenses of 0.58%.

It's 12-month trailing dividend yield comes in at 1.56%.

Sector Exposure and Top Holdings

While ETFs offer diversified exposure, which minimizes single stock risk, a deep look into a fund's holdings is a valuable exercise. And, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.

Looking at individual holdings, Industria De Diseno Textil (ITX) accounts for about 4.61% of total assets, followed by Unilever Nv (UNA) and British American Tobacco Plc (BATS).

The top 10 holdings account for about 30.68% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

Year-to-date, the WisdomTree International Hedged Quality Dividend Growth Fund has added about 23.24% so far, and it's up approximately 15.79% over the last 12 months (as of 10/24/2019). IHDG has traded between $26.92 and $33.76 in this past 52-week period.

The fund has a beta of 0.77 and standard deviation of 11.46% for the trailing three-year period, which makes IHDG a medium risk choice in this particular space. With about 289 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Alternatives

WisdomTree International Hedged Quality Dividend Growth Fund is a reasonable option for investors seeking to outperform the Broad Developed World ETFs segment of the market. However, there are other ETFs in the space which investors could consider.

IShares MSCI EAFE ETF (EFA) tracks MSCI EAFE Index and the iShares Core MSCI EAFE ETF (IEFA) tracks MSCI EAFE Investable Market Index. IShares MSCI EAFE ETF has $60.55 B in assets, iShares Core MSCI EAFE ETF has $67.32 B. EFA has an expense ratio of 0.31% and IEFA charges 0.07%.

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

Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report
 
WisdomTree International Hedged Quality Dividend Growth Fund (IHDG): ETF Research Reports
 
iShares MSCI EAFE ETF (EFA): ETF Research Reports
 
iShares Core MSCI EAFE ETF (IEFA): ETF Research Reports
 
To read this article on Zacks.com click here.
 
Zacks Investment Research