A smart beta exchange traded fund, the WisdomTree U.S. LargeCap Dividend ETF (DLN) debuted on 06/16/2006, and offers broad exposure to the Style Box - Large Cap Value 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.
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.
On the other hand, some investors who believe that it is possible to beat the market by superior stock selection opt to invest in another class of funds that track non-cap weighted strategies--popularly known as smart beta.
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.
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
The fund is managed by Wisdomtree. DLN has been able to amass assets over $4.45 billion, making it one of the larger ETFs in the Style Box - Large Cap Value. DLN, before fees and expenses, seeks to match the performance of the WisdomTree U.S. LargeCap Dividend Index.
The WisdomTree U.S. LargeCap Dividend Index is a fundamentally weighted index that measures the performance of the large-capitalization segment of the U.S. dividend-paying market.
Cost & Other Expenses
Expense ratios are an important factor in the return of an ETF and in the long-term, cheaper funds can significantly outperform their more expensive cousins, other things remaining the same.
With on par with most peer products in the space, this ETF has annual operating expenses of 0.28%.
The fund has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 2.11%.
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.
This ETF has heaviest allocation in the Financials sector - about 17.70% of the portfolio. Information Technology and Healthcare round out the top three.
Taking into account individual holdings, Apple Inc (AAPL) accounts for about 3.61% of the fund's total assets, followed by Microsoft Corp (MSFT) and Jpmorgan Chase & Co (JPM).
The top 10 holdings account for about 26.33% of total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
The ETF has lost about -2.70% so far this year and was up about 7.97% in the last one year (as of 04/10/2025). In the past 52-week period, it has traded between $68.68 and $82.22.
DLN has a beta of 0.82 and standard deviation of 14.61% for the trailing three-year period, which makes the fund a medium risk choice in the space. With about 301 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.
Alternatives
WisdomTree U.S. LargeCap Dividend ETF is an excellent option for investors seeking to outperform the Style Box - Large Cap Value segment of the market. There are other ETFs in the space which investors could consider as well.
Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF (SCHD) tracks Dow Jones U.S. Dividend 100 Index and the Vanguard Value ETF (VTV) tracks CRSP U.S. Large Cap Value Index. Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF has $65.87 billion in assets, Vanguard Value ETF has $127.20 billion. SCHD has an expense ratio of 0.06% and VTV charges 0.04%.
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 - Large Cap Value.
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 U.S. LargeCap Dividend ETF (DLN): ETF Research Reports JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM): Free Stock Analysis Report Apple Inc. (AAPL): Free Stock Analysis Report Microsoft Corporation (MSFT): Free Stock Analysis Report Vanguard Value ETF (VTV): ETF Research Reports Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF (SCHD): ETF Research ReportsThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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