Designed to provide broad exposure to the Broad Developed World ETFs category of the market, the WisdomTree International High Dividend ETF (DTH) is a smart beta exchange traded fund launched on 06/16/2006.
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.
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, and has been able to amass over $527.29 million, which makes it one of the average sized ETFs in the Broad Developed World ETFs. This particular fund, 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
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 0.58%.
DTH's 12-month trailing dividend yield is 3.78%.
Sector Exposure and Top Holdings
Most ETFs are very transparent products, and disclose their holdings on a daily basis. ETFs also offer diversified exposure, which minimizes single stock risk, though it's still important for investors to research a fund's holdings.
Looking at individual holdings, Us Dollar accounts for about 82.32% of total assets, followed by Japanese Yen and Dreyfus Trsy Oblig Cash Mgmt Cl Ins.
DTH's top 10 holdings account for about 110.02% of its total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
Year-to-date, the WisdomTree International High Dividend ETF has added roughly 0.64% so far, and is up about 43.42% over the last 12 months (as of 01/05/2026). DTH has traded between $37.33 $51.94 in this past 52-week period.
DTH has a beta of 0.58 and standard deviation of 13.50% for the trailing three-year period, which makes the fund a medium risk choice in the space. With about 584 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk .
Alternatives
WisdomTree International High Dividend ETF is a reasonable option for investors seeking to outperform the Broad Developed World ETFs segment of the market. However, there are other ETFs in the space which investors could 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 $71.19 billion in assets, iShares Core MSCI EAFE ETF has $164.4 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.
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
WisdomTree International High Dividend ETF (DTH): ETF Research ReportsThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
Zacks Investment Research
