Yahoo Finance Is SPDR S&P Global Dividend ETF (WDIV) a Strong ETF Right Now?
Launched on 05/29/2013, the SPDR S&P Global Dividend ETF (WDIV) is a smart beta exchange traded fund offering 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.
Market cap weighted indexes offer a low-cost, convenient, and transparent way of replicating market returns, and are a good option for investors who believe in market efficiency.
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.
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 sponsored by State Street Global Advisors. It has amassed assets over $201.75 million, making it one of the average sized ETFs in the World ETFs. WDIV, before fees and expenses, seeks to match the performance of the S&P Global Dividend Aristocrats Index.
The S&P Global Dividend Aristocrats Index measures the performance of high dividend-yield companies included in the S&P Global BMI that have followed a managed-dividends policy of increasing or stable dividends for at least ten consecutive years.
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 one of the cheaper products in the space, this ETF has annual operating expenses of 0.40%.
WDIV's 12-month trailing dividend yield is 4.63%.
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.
Taking into account individual holdings, Altria Group Inc (MO) accounts for about 2.14% of the fund's total assets, followed by Highwoods Properties Inc (HIW) and Solvay Sa (SOLB).
WDIV's top 10 holdings account for about 16.47% of its total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
The ETF has added roughly 2.33% and was up about 9.33% so far this year and in the past one year (as of 05/23/2024), respectively. WDIV has traded between $52.34 and $62.26 during this last 52-week period.
The ETF has a beta of 0.83 and standard deviation of 13.47% for the trailing three-year period, making it a low risk choice in the space. With about 124 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.
Alternatives
SPDR S&P Global Dividend ETF is a reasonable option for investors seeking to outperform the World ETFs segment of the market. However, there are other ETFs in the space which investors could consider.
IShares MSCI ACWI ETF (ACWI) tracks MSCI All Country World Index and the Vanguard Total World Stock ETF (VT) tracks FTSE Global All Cap Index. IShares MSCI ACWI ETF has $18.66 billion in assets, Vanguard Total World Stock ETF has $36.50 billion. ACWI has an expense ratio of 0.32% and VT 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 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.
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SPDR S&P Global Dividend ETF (WDIV): ETF Research Reports
Highwoods Properties, Inc. (HIW) : Free Stock Analysis Report
Altria Group, Inc. (MO) : Free Stock Analysis Report
iShares MSCI ACWI ETF (ACWI): ETF Research Reports
Vanguard Total World Stock ETF (VT): ETF Research Reports