Launched on 02/23/2011, the SPDR S&P Emerging Markets Dividend ETF (EDIV) 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 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.
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.
By attempting to pick stocks that have a better chance of risk-return performance, non-cap weighted indexes are based on certain fundamental characteristics, or a combination of such.
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 State Street Investment Management, and has been able to amass over $935.33 million, which makes it one of the larger ETFs in the Broad Emerging Market ETFs. EDIV, before fees and expenses, seeks to match the performance of the S&P Emerging Markets Dividend Opportunities Index.
The S&P Emerging Markets Dividend Opportunities Index includes 100 tradable, exchange-listed common stocks from emerging market countries that offer high dividend yields.
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 0.49%.
The fund has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 4.52%.
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.
When you look at individual holdings, Ptt Pcl Nvdr (PTT) accounts for about 3.61% of the fund's total assets, followed by Ambev Sa (ABEV3) and Banco Do Brasil S.a. (BBAS3).
Its top 10 holdings account for approximately 26.75% of EDIV's total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
So far this year, EDIV has gained about 14.28%, and it's up approximately 14.16% in the last one year (as of 12/01/2025). During this past 52-week period, the fund has traded between $32.61 and $39.81.
EDIV has a beta of 0.52 and standard deviation of 12.97% for the trailing three-year period, which makes the fund a medium risk choice in the space. With about 151 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk .
Alternatives
SPDR S&P Emerging Markets Dividend ETF is a reasonable option for investors seeking to outperform the Broad Emerging Market ETFs segment of the market. However, there are other ETFs in the space which investors could consider.
Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets ETF (VWO) tracks FTSE Emerging Markets All Cap China A Inclusion Index and the iShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets ETF (IEMG) tracks MSCI Emerging Markets Investable Market Index. Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets ETF has $103.93 billion in assets, iShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets ETF has $117.18 billion. VWO has an expense ratio of 0.07% and IEMG changes 0.09%.
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.
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SPDR S&P Emerging Markets Dividend ETF (EDIV): ETF Research ReportsThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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