Launched on 02/23/2012, the iShares Emerging Markets Dividend ETF (DVYE) is a smart beta exchange traded fund offering broad exposure to the Broad Emerging Market ETFs category of the market.
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.
Market cap weighted indexes offer a low-cost, convenient, and transparent way of replicating market returns, and are a good option for investors who believe in market efficiency.
But, there are some investors who would rather invest in smart beta funds; these funds track non-cap weighted strategies, and are a strong option for those who prefer choosing great stocks in order to beat the market.
Non-cap weighted indexes try to choose stocks that have a better chance of risk-return performance, which is based on specific fundamental characteristics, or a mix of other such characteristics.
The smart beta space gives investors many different choices, from equal-weighting, one of the simplest strategies, to more complicated ones like fundamental and volatility/momentum based weighting. However, not all of these methodologies have been able to deliver remarkable returns.
Fund Sponsor & Index
The fund is managed by Blackrock. DVYE has been able to amass assets over $825.40 million, making it one of the larger ETFs in the Broad Emerging Market ETFs. DVYE, before fees and expenses, seeks to match the performance of the Dow Jones Emerging Markets Select Dividend Index.
The Dow Jones Emerging Markets Select Dividend Index measures the performance of the companies in emerging market countries that have provided relatively high dividend yields on a consistent basis over time.
Cost & Other Expenses
For ETF investors, expense ratios are an important factor when considering a fund’s return; in the long-term, cheaper funds actually have the ability to outperform their more expensive cousins if all other things remain the same.
Annual operating expenses for this ETF are 0.49%, making it on par with most peer products in the space.
It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 7.27%.
Sector Exposure and Top Holdings
Even though ETFs offer diversified exposure which minimizes single stock risk, it is still important to look into a fund’s holdings before investing. Luckily, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.
When you look at individual holdings, Globaltrans Investment Gdr Plc (GLTR) accounts for about 3.17% of the fund’s total assets, followed by China Power International Developm and Adaro Energy Tbk (ADRO).
Its top 10 holdings account for approximately 19.98% of DVYE’s total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
Year-to-date, the iShares Emerging Markets Dividend ETF return is roughly 10.79% so far, and was up about 10.16% over the last 12 months (as of 12/30/2021). DVYE has traded between $36.57 and $41.57 in this past 52-week period.
The fund has a beta of 0.86 and standard deviation of 21.65% for the trailing three-year period, which makes DVYE a medium risk choice in this particular space. With about 114 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.
Alternatives
IShares Emerging Markets Dividend ETF is a reasonable option for investors seeking to outperform the Broad Emerging Market ETFs segment of the market. However, there are other ETFs in the space which investors could consider.
IShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets ETF (IEMG) tracks MSCI Emerging Markets Investable Market Index and the Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets ETF (VWO) tracks FTSE Emerging Markets All Cap China A Inclusion Index. IShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets ETF has $76.05 billion in assets, Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets ETF has $78.15 billion. IEMG has an expense ratio of 0.11% and VWO charges 0.10%.
Investors looking for cheaper and lower-risk options should consider traditional market cap weighted ETFs that aim to match the returns of the Broad Emerging Market 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
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