According to the numbers, U.S. equities are still performing those of overseas and emerging markets. The Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index returned an annualized 13.5% over the past three years, through July 31, compared with 8.5% for Lipper’s global equity-income category, and 4.7% for the international equity-income category.
Investors should pay close attention to the sectors that dividend ETFs track. This can help avoid over or under exposure to various stocks and can help investors dodge volatility. For example, many dividend funds invest about 20% of their assets in finance, so investors should pay close attention to what companies play a big role in the portfolio, Greg Savage, a senior portfolio manager at BlackRock’s iShares said.
For the long-term, analysts and investors find that strategies that employ income yielding stocks have consistently beat the market. [ETF Spotlight: SPDR International Dividend]
Some international dividend ETFs include:
- SPDR S&P International Dividend (NYSEArca: DWX)
- iShares Dow Jones International Select Dividend Index (NYSEArca: IDV)
- WisdomTree DEFA Fund (NYSEArca: DWM)
- WisdomTree Europe Small Cap Dividend Fund (NYSEArca: DFE)
- Global X SuperDividend ETF (NYSEArca: SDIV)
- S&P Global Dividend Opportunities Index (NYSEArca: LVL)
Tisha Guerrero contributed to this article.