ETF Spotlight on the FlexShares International Quality Dividend Index Fund (NYSEArca: IQDF), part of an ongoing series.
Assets: $151.5 million
Objective: The FlexShares International Quality Dividend Index Fund tries to reflect the performance of the Northern Trust International Quality Dividend Index, which is comprised of developed ex-U.S. and emerging market securities screened to maximize “quality,” target a beta similar to the parent index and improve on the parent index’s dividend yield.
Holdings: Top holdings include Commonwealth Bank of Australia 3.0%, British American Tabacco 2.6%, GlaxoSmithKline 1.9%, AstraZeneca 1.9% and Total SA 1.8%.
What You Should Know:
- Northern Trust’s FlexShares sponsors the ETF.
- IQDF has a 0.47% expense ratio and weighted average dividend yield of 5.43%.
- The ETF has 204 components and the top ten holdings make up 18.3% of the overall portfolio.
- Sector allocations include financials 30.5%, energy 11%, industrials 10.7%, consumer discretionary 9.1%, consumer staples 7.4%, health care 7.3%, telecom services 7.2%, utilities 6.0%, materials 5.9% and information technology 5%.
- Country allocations include U.K. 15.1%, Japan 11.6%, France 8.1%, Australia 8.0%, Germany 7.0%, China 5.7%, Canada 5.6%, Switzerland 3.7%, Finland 3.7% and Sweden 3.1%.
- IQDF has a distribution yield of 2.05%.
- The ETF is set to celebrate its 1-year anniversary on April 12.
- The fund is up 4.3% over the past three months, up 2.1% year-to-date and up 12.5% since its inception.
- IQDF is currently trading 7% above its 200-day exponential moving average.
- The fund tracks a group of high-quality income-oriented international companies.
- The underlying index selects stocks based on fundamental factors like profitability, solid management and reliable cash flow.
- Due to its smart-beta indexing methodology, the ETF has a value tilt at around 56.3% of the overall portfolio.
Next page: The latest news