In current times where the market is experiencing heavy doses of volatility, quality screening via trusted research is a must and today, investment management firm VanEck announced it’s launching two new ETFs that leverage research from Morningstar’s experienced equity research team–the VanEck Vectors Morningstar Durable Dividend ETF (DURA) and VanEck Vectors Morningstar Global Wide Moat ETF (GOAT).
DURA seeks to provide exposure to high dividend yielding U.S. companies with strong financial health and attractive valuations, according to Morningstar. DURA seeks to replicate as closely as possible, before fees and expenses, the price and yield performance of the Morningstar® US Dividend Valuation IndexSM. The Index leverages Morningstar’s forward-looking fair value assessments as well as its proprietary quantitative Distance to Default score, which helps target financially strong companies with a higher probability of sustaining dividend payments.
“Traditional methods of screening dividend paying companies generally rely on backward-looking data, such as a company’s history or magnitude of past distributions,” said Ed Lopez, Head of ETF Product with VanEck. “Key features of DURA’s index are Morningstar’s fair value and financial health assessments. After years of very low interest rates and ongoing demand for dividend paying stocks, an important consideration for investors is making sure not to overpay for yield, and the Distance to Default metric helps select companies with the lowest probability of future dividend cuts.”
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GOAT seeks to provide exposure to global companies with sustainable competitive advantages, or “wide moats,” that are attractively priced according to Morningstar’s estimate of fair value. GOAT seeks to replicate as closely as possible, before fees and expenses, the price and yield performance of the Morningstar® Global Wide Moat Focus IndexSM.
“Morningstar’s equity research team consists of over 100 analysts globally and applies one consistent, forward-looking methodology to their stock analysis,” added Lopez.
DURA and GOAT add to VanEck’s suite of ETFs featuring stock selection and valuation methodologies by Morningstar Equity Research, joining VanEck Vectors Morningstar Wide Moat ETF (NYSEArca: MOAT) and VanEck Vectors Morningstar International Moat ETF (NYSEArca: MOTI).
DURA has a net expense ratio of 0.29%. GOAT has a net expense ratio of 0.52%1.
VanEck has a history of looking beyond the financial markets to identify trends that are likely to create impactful investment opportunities. We were one of the first U.S. asset managers to offer investors access to international markets. This set the tone for the firm’s drive to identify asset classes and trends – including gold investing in 1968, emerging markets in 1993, and exchange traded funds in 2006 – that subsequently shaped the investment management industry.
Today, VanEck offers active and passive strategies with compelling exposures supported by well-designed investment processes. As of September 30, 2018, VanEck managed approximately $46.1 billion in assets, including mutual funds, ETFs, and institutional accounts. The firm’s capabilities range from core investment opportunities to more specialized exposures to enhance portfolio diversification. Our actively managed strategies are fueled by in-depth, bottom-up research and security selection from portfolio managers with direct experience in the sectors and regions in which they invest. Investability, liquidity, diversity, and transparency are key to the experienced decision-making around market and index selection underlying VanEck’s passive strategies.
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