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
The Latest News:
- Payouts are expected to rise on strong earnings and a rebounding economy.
- “It’s easier to find good dividend stocks now because companies are accelerating their distribution of cash,” Steve Rees, global head of equity strategy for J.P. Morgan Private Bank, said in a Money News article.
- “We think dividend growers are the place to be in such an environment,” Scott Moore, a manager of the Buffalo Dividend Focus fund, said in the article.
- Global stocks strengthened Wednesday on stronger-than-expected earnings results for the first-quarter.
- “Earnings will really help give this market some forward direction, but they are in front of us and haven’t really hit yet,” Rick Meckler, president of hedge fund LibertyView Capital Management, said in a Reuters article.
FlexShares International Quality Dividend Index Fund
For past stories in this series, visit our ETF Spotlight category.
Max Chen contributed to this article.