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Is ALPS International Sector Dividend Dogs ETF (IDOG) a Strong ETF Right Now?
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Designed to provide broad exposure to the Broad Developed World ETFs category of the market, the ALPS International Sector Dividend Dogs ETF (IDOG - Free Report) is a smart beta exchange traded fund launched on 06/28/2013.
What Are Smart Beta ETFs?
For a long time now, the ETF industry has been flooded with products based on market capitalization weighted indexes, which are designed to represent the broader 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.
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.
Even though this space provides many choices to investors--think one of the simplest methodologies like equal-weighting and more complicated ones like fundamental and volatility/momentum based weighting--not all have been able to deliver first-rate results.
Fund Sponsor & Index
The fund is sponsored by Alps. It has amassed assets over $289.66 million, making 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 S-Network International Sector Dividend Dogs Index.
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
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 0.50%.
IDOG's 12-month trailing dividend yield is 4.53%.
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.
Taking into account individual holdings, Orlen Sa (PKN) accounts for about 2.12% of the fund's total assets, followed by Telefonaktiebolaget Lm Ericsson (ERICB) and Intesa Sanpaolo Spa (ISP).
The top 10 holdings account for about 20.59% of total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
Year-to-date, the ALPS International Sector Dividend Dogs ETF return is roughly 3.98% so far, and it's up approximately 13.59% over the last 12 months (as of 07/10/2024). IDOG has traded between $26.12 and $31.76 in this past 52-week period.
The fund has a beta of 0.84 and standard deviation of 15.69% for the trailing three-year period, which makes IDOG a medium risk choice in this particular space. With about 51 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.
Alternatives
ALPS International Sector Dividend Dogs 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.
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 $73.39 billion in assets, Vanguard FTSE Developed Markets ETF has $134.39 billion. VXUS has an expense ratio of 0.08% and VEA charges 0.06%.
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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Is ALPS International Sector Dividend Dogs ETF (IDOG) a Strong ETF Right Now?
Designed to provide broad exposure to the Broad Developed World ETFs category of the market, the ALPS International Sector Dividend Dogs ETF (IDOG - Free Report) is a smart beta exchange traded fund launched on 06/28/2013.
What Are Smart Beta ETFs?
For a long time now, the ETF industry has been flooded with products based on market capitalization weighted indexes, which are designed to represent the broader 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.
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.
Even though this space provides many choices to investors--think one of the simplest methodologies like equal-weighting and more complicated ones like fundamental and volatility/momentum based weighting--not all have been able to deliver first-rate results.
Fund Sponsor & Index
The fund is sponsored by Alps. It has amassed assets over $289.66 million, making 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 S-Network International Sector Dividend Dogs Index.
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
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 0.50%.
IDOG's 12-month trailing dividend yield is 4.53%.
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.
Taking into account individual holdings, Orlen Sa (PKN) accounts for about 2.12% of the fund's total assets, followed by Telefonaktiebolaget Lm Ericsson (ERICB) and Intesa Sanpaolo Spa (ISP).
The top 10 holdings account for about 20.59% of total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
Year-to-date, the ALPS International Sector Dividend Dogs ETF return is roughly 3.98% so far, and it's up approximately 13.59% over the last 12 months (as of 07/10/2024). IDOG has traded between $26.12 and $31.76 in this past 52-week period.
The fund has a beta of 0.84 and standard deviation of 15.69% for the trailing three-year period, which makes IDOG a medium risk choice in this particular space. With about 51 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.
Alternatives
ALPS International Sector Dividend Dogs 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.
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 $73.39 billion in assets, Vanguard FTSE Developed Markets ETF has $134.39 billion. VXUS has an expense ratio of 0.08% and VEA charges 0.06%.
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.