Launched on 02/23/2012, the iShares Emerging Markets Dividend ETF (DVYE) is a smart beta exchange traded fund offering broad exposure to the Broad Emerging Market ETFs category of the market.
What Are Smart Beta ETFs?
The ETF industry has long been dominated by products based on market cap weighted indexes, a strategy created to reflect the 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.
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.
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.
This area offers many different investment choices, such as simplest equal-weighting, fundamental weighting and volatility/momentum based weighting methodologies; however, not all of these strategies can deliver superior results.
Fund Sponsor & Index
DVYE is managed by Blackrock (NYSE:BLK), and this fund has amassed over $810.91 million, which makes it one of the larger ETFs in the Broad Emerging Market ETFs. This particular fund seeks to match the performance of the Dow Jones Emerging Markets Select Dividend Index before fees and expenses.
The Dow Jones Emerging Markets Select Dividend Index measures the performance of the companies in emerging market countries that have provided relatively high dividend yields on a consistent basis over time.
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 on par with most peer products in the space, this ETF has annual operating expenses of 0.49%.
It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 5.02%.
Sector Exposure and Top Holdings
Even though ETFs offer diversified exposure which minimizes single stock risk, it is still important to look into a fund's holdings before investing. Luckily, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.
Looking at individual holdings, Evraz (EVR) accounts for about 2.64% of total assets, followed by Indiabulls Housing Finance Ltd (IBULHSGFIN) and Novolipetsk Steel Gdr (NLMK).
Its top 10 holdings account for approximately 18.99% of DVYE's total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
Year-to-date, the iShares Emerging Markets Dividend ETF has added roughly 5.08% so far, and was up about 3.88% over the last 12 months (as of 02/17/2021). DVYE has traded between $25.94 and $39.32 in this past 52-week period.
The fund has a beta of 0.90 and standard deviation of 22.22% for the trailing three-year period, which makes DVYE a medium risk choice in this particular space. With about 124 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.
Alternatives
IShares Emerging Markets Dividend ETF is not a suitable option for investors seeking to outperform the Broad Emerging Market ETFs segment of the market. Instead, there are other ETFs in the space which investors should consider.
IShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets ETF (IEMG) tracks MSCI Emerging Markets Investable Market Index and the Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets ETF (VWO) tracks FTSE Emerging Markets All Cap China A Inclusion Index. IShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets ETF has $80.52 billion in assets, Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets ETF has $81 billion. IEMG has an expense ratio of 0.11% and VWO charges 0.10%.
Investors looking for cheaper and lower-risk options should consider traditional market cap weighted ETFs that aim to match the returns of the Broad Emerging Market 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
Evercore Inc (EVR): Free Stock Analysis Report
Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets ETF (VWO): ETF Research Reports
To read this article on Zacks.com click here.