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Is ALPS International Sector Dividend Dogs ETF (IDOG) a Strong ETF Right Now?

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The ALPS International Sector Dividend Dogs ETF (IDOG - Free Report) made its debut on 06/28/2013, and is a smart beta exchange traded fund that provides broad exposure to the World ETFs 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.

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.

This kind of index follows this same mindset, as it attempts to pick stocks that have better chances of risk-return performance; non-cap weighted strategies base selection on certain fundamental characteristics, or a mix 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

IDOG is managed by Alps, and this fund has amassed over $225.06 million, which makes it one of the average sized ETFs in the World ETFs. This particular fund seeks to match the performance of the S-Network International Sector Dividend Dogs Index before fees and expenses.

The S-Network International Sector Dividend Dogs Index identifies five high yielding securities, based on regular cash dividends, in each of the ten Global Industry Classification Standard sectors and is rebalanced quarterly.

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.

Annual operating expenses for this ETF are 0.50%, making it on par with most peer products in the space.

The fund has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 4.97%.

Sector Exposure and Top Holdings

Even though ETFs offer diversified exposure that minimizes single stock risk, investors should also look at the actual holdings inside the fund. Luckily, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.

Taking into account individual holdings, H & M Hennes & Mauritz Ab (HMB) accounts for about 2.38% of the fund's total assets, followed by Stellantis Nv (STLAMMI2) and Israel Chemicals Ltd. (ICL - Free Report) .

IDOG's top 10 holdings account for about 21.84% of its total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

So far this year, IDOG has gained about 14.48%, and is up about 20.39% in the last one year (as of 08/30/2023). During this past 52-week period, the fund has traded between $21.31 and $29.31.

IDOG has a beta of 0.84 and standard deviation of 16.84% for the trailing three-year period, which makes the fund a medium risk choice in the space. With about 51 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Alternatives

ALPS International Sector Dividend Dogs 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.

Vanguard Total International Stock ETF (VXUS - Free Report) tracks FTSE Global All Cap ex US Index and the Vanguard FTSE Developed Markets ETF (VEA - Free Report) tracks FTSE Developed All Cap ex US Index. Vanguard Total International Stock ETF has $57.82 billion in assets, Vanguard FTSE Developed Markets ETF has $113.75 billion. VXUS has an expense ratio of 0.07% and VEA charges 0.05%.

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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