The WisdomTree International High Dividend ETF (DTH) made its debut on 06/16/2006, and is a smart beta exchange traded fund that provides broad exposure to the Broad Developed World ETFs category of the market.
What Are Smart Beta ETFs?
Products that are based on market cap weighted indexes, which are strategies designed to reflect a specific market segment or the market as a whole, have traditionally dominated the ETF industry.
Market cap weighted indexes work great for investors who believe in market efficiency. They provide a low-cost, convenient and transparent way of replicating market returns.
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.
These indexes attempt to select stocks that have better chances of risk-return performance, based on certain fundamental characteristics or a combination of 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
The fund is managed by Wisdomtree, and has been able to amass over $476.35 million, which makes it one of the average sized ETFs in the Broad Developed World ETFs. DTH, before fees and expenses, seeks to match the performance of the WisdomTree International High Dividend Index.
The WisdomTree International High Dividend Index is a fundamentally weighted Index that measures the performance of companies with high dividend yields selected from the WisdomTree International Equity Index.
Cost & Other Expenses
Cost is an important factor in selecting the right ETF, and cheaper funds can significantly outperform their more expensive cousins if all other fundamentals are the same.
With on par with most peer products in the space, this ETF has annual operating expenses of 0.58%.
The fund has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 3.98%.
Sector Exposure and Top Holdings
It is important to delve into an ETF's holdings before investing despite the many upsides to these kinds of funds like diversified exposure, which minimizes single stock risk. And, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.
When you look at individual holdings, Us Dollaraccounts for about 93.57% of the fund's total assets, followed by Dreyfus Trsy Oblig Cash Mgmt Cl Ins and Hsbc Holdings Plc (HSBA).
Its top 10 holdings account for approximately 116.93% of DTH's total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
The ETF has added roughly 31.01% and was up about 22.26% so far this year and in the past one year (as of 09/03/2025), respectively. DTH has traded between $37.33 and $49.90 during this last 52-week period.
The ETF has a beta of 0.66 and standard deviation of 15.17% for the trailing three-year period, making it a medium risk choice in the space. With about 598 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk .
Alternatives
WisdomTree International High Dividend ETF is not a suitable option for investors seeking to outperform the Broad Developed World ETFs segment of the market. Instead, there are other ETFs in the space which investors should 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 $65.28 billion in assets, iShares Core MSCI EAFE ETF has $148.15 billion. EFA has an expense ratio of 0.32% and IEFA changes 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.
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WisdomTree International High Dividend ETF (DTH): ETF Research ReportsThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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