Making its debut on 04/12/2013, smart beta exchange traded fund FlexShares International Quality Dividend ETF (IQDF) provides investors broad exposure to the World ETFs category of the market.
What Are Smart Beta ETFs?
The ETF industry has traditionally been dominated by products based on market capitalization weighted indexes that are designed to represent the market or a particular segment of the market.
Investors who believe in market efficiency should consider market cap indexes, as they replicate market returns in a low-cost, convenient, and transparent way.
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.
Non-cap weighted indexes try to choose stocks that have a better chance of risk-return performance, which is based on specific fundamental characteristics, or a mix of other such characteristics.
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
Managed by Flexshares, IQDF has amassed assets over $766.5 million, making it one of the larger ETFs in the World ETFs. This particular fund, before fees and expenses, seeks to match the performance of the Northern Trust International Quality Dividend Index.
The Northern Trust International Quality Dividend Index is designed to provide exposure to a high-quality income-oriented portfolio of long-only international securities issued by non-U.S.-based companies, with an emphasis on long-term capital growth and a targeted overall beta that is similar to that of the Northern Trust International Large Cap Index.
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.
Annual operating expenses for this ETF are 0.47%, making it one of the cheaper products in the space.
The fund has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 6.09%.
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, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd Common accounts for about 2.63% of total assets, followed by Novartis Ag Common Stock Chf 0.49 (NOVN) and Bhp Group Ltd Common Stock Aud 0 (BHP).
Its top 10 holdings account for approximately 17.46% of IQDF's total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
The ETF return is roughly 23.19% and was up about 20.83% so far this year and in the past one year (as of 07/25/2025), respectively. IQDF has traded between $22.10 and $28.22 during this last 52-week period.
The fund has a beta of 0.74 and standard deviation of 15.10% for the trailing three-year period, which makes IQDF a medium risk choice in this particular space. With about 264 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk .
Alternatives
FlexShares International Quality 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.
FlexShares International Quality Dividend Dynamic ETF(IQDY) tracks Northern Trust International Quality Dividend Dynamic Index The fund has $77.03 million in assets. IQDY has an expense ratio of 0.45%.
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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FlexShares International Quality Dividend ETF (IQDF): ETF Research ReportsThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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