Yahoo Finance Is FlexShares Quality Dividend ETF (QDF) a Strong ETF Right Now?
A smart beta exchange traded fund, the FlexShares Quality Dividend ETF (QDF) debuted on 12/14/2012, and offers broad exposure to the Style Box - All Cap Blend 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.
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.
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.
This kind of index follows this same mindset, as it attempts to pick stocks that have better chances of risk-return performance; non-cap weighted strategies base selection on certain fundamental characteristics, or a mix of such characteristics.
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 Flexshares, QDF has amassed assets over $1.76 billion, making it one of the larger ETFs in the Style Box - All Cap Blend. Before fees and expenses, QDF seeks to match the performance of the Northern Trust Quality Dividend Index.
The Northern Trust Quality Dividend Index is designed to provide exposure to a high-quality income-oriented portfolio of long-only U.S. equity securities, with an emphasis on long-term capital growth and a targeted overall beta that is similar to that of the Northern Trust 1250 Index and the Index are selected based on expected dividend payment and fundamental factors.
Cost & Other Expenses
Investors should also pay attention to an ETF's expense ratio. Lower cost products will produce better results than those with a higher cost, assuming all other metrics remain the same.
Annual operating expenses for QDF are 0.37%, which makes it on par with most peer products in the space.
It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 1.91%.
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.
This ETF has heaviest allocation in the Information Technology sector - about 31.10% of the portfolio. Financials and Healthcare round out the top three.
Looking at individual holdings, Apple Inc Common Stock Usd 0.00001 (AAPL) accounts for about 7.46% of total assets, followed by Microsoft Corp Common Stock Usd 0.00000625 (MSFT) and Broadcom Inc Common Stock Usd (AVGO).
The top 10 holdings account for about 36.77% of total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
Year-to-date, the FlexShares Quality Dividend ETF has added roughly 8.93% so far, and is up about 19.68% over the last 12 months (as of 06/24/2024). QDF has traded between $53.52 and $67.45 in this past 52-week period.
The ETF has a beta of 0.98 and standard deviation of 15.71% for the trailing three-year period, making it a medium risk choice in the space. With about 134 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.
Alternatives
FlexShares Quality Dividend ETF is a reasonable option for investors seeking to outperform the Style Box - All Cap Blend segment of the market. However, there are other ETFs in the space which investors could consider.
IShares Core S&P Total U.S. Stock Market ETF (ITOT) tracks S&P Total Market Index and the Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF (VTI) tracks CRSP US Total Market Index. IShares Core S&P Total U.S. Stock Market ETF has $56.83 billion in assets, Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF has $407.11 billion. ITOT has an expense ratio of 0.03% and VTI charges 0.03%.
Investors looking for cheaper and lower-risk options should consider traditional market cap weighted ETFs that aim to match the returns of the Style Box - All Cap Blend.
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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FlexShares Quality Dividend ETF (QDF): ETF Research Reports
Apple Inc. (AAPL) : Free Stock Analysis Report
Microsoft Corporation (MSFT) : Free Stock Analysis Report
Broadcom Inc. (AVGO) : Free Stock Analysis Report
Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF (VTI): ETF Research Reports
iShares Core S&P Total U.S. Stock Market ETF (ITOT): ETF Research Reports
