The WisdomTree International High Dividend ETF (DTH) was launched on 06/16/2006, and is a smart beta exchange traded fund designed to offer broad exposure to the Broad Developed World ETFs category of the market.

What Are Smart Beta ETFs?

The ETF industry has traditionally been dominated by products based on market capitalization weighted indexes that are designed to represent the market or a particular segment of the market.

Market cap weighted indexes work great for investors who believe in market efficiency. They provide a low-cost, convenient and transparent way of replicating market returns.

However, some investors believe in the possibility of beating the market through exceptional stock selection, and choose a different type of fund that tracks non-cap weighted strategies: smart beta.

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.

Even though this space provides many choices to investors--think one of the simplest methodologies like equal-weighting and more complicated ones like fundamental and volatility/momentum based weighting--not all have been able to deliver first-rate results.

Fund Sponsor & Index

The fund is managed by Wisdomtree, and has been able to amass over $335.13 million, which makes it one of the average sized ETFs in the Broad Developed World ETFs. This particular fund, before fees and expenses, seeks to match the performance of the WisdomTree International High Dividend Index.

The WisdomTree International High Dividend Index is a fundamentally weighted Index that measures the performance of companies with high dividend yields selected from the WisdomTree International Equity Index.

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 0.58%, making it on par with most peer products in the space.

It's 12-month trailing dividend yield comes in at 4.99%.

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.

Taking into account individual holdings, Hsbc Holdings Plc (HSBA) accounts for about 4.45% of the fund's total assets, followed by Shell Plc-New (SHEL) and British American Tobacco Plc (BATS).

DTH's top 10 holdings account for about 20.71% of its total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

So far this year, DTH has added about 8.36%, and was up about 11.80% in the last one year (as of 02/28/2025). During this past 52-week period, the fund has traded between $37.33 and $41.85.

The ETF has a beta of 0.79 and standard deviation of 15.54% for the trailing three-year period, making it a medium risk choice in the space. With about 606 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Alternatives

WisdomTree International High Dividend ETF is not a suitable option for investors seeking to outperform the Broad Developed World ETFs segment of the market. Instead, there are other ETFs in the space which investors should consider.

IShares MSCI EAFE ETF (EFA) tracks MSCI EAFE Index and the iShares Core MSCI EAFE ETF (IEFA) tracks MSCI EAFE Investable Market Index. IShares MSCI EAFE ETF has $57.21 billion in assets, iShares Core MSCI EAFE ETF has $126.46 billion. EFA has an expense ratio of 0.32% and IEFA charges 0.07%.

Investors looking for cheaper and lower-risk options should consider traditional market cap weighted ETFs that aim to match the returns of the Broad Developed World 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 Zacks ETF Center.

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WisdomTree International High Dividend ETF (DTH): ETF Research Reports

iShares MSCI EAFE ETF (EFA): ETF Research Reports

iShares Core MSCI EAFE ETF (IEFA): ETF Research Reports

Shell PLC Unsponsored ADR (SHEL) : Free Stock Analysis Report

This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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