The FlexShares International Quality Dividend Index Fund (IQDF) is part of Northern Trust’s stable of proprietary factor strategies. This one has an international flair. The fund follows a Northern Trust index that selects dividend-paying companies in developed and emerging markets outside the U.S. Simple enough, but then the index weights the portfolio toward companies that earned the highest “dividend quality” scores. To prevent unintentional concentrations, the methodology caps the weighting of individual securities, industry groups, sectors and regions. Lastly, the fund aims to match market beta — jargon used to describe how volatile performance is relative to the market. It’s another way of saying IQDF aims to be no more or less risky than the market.
Investors can be excused for confusing IQDF with its sister funds: The FlexShares International Quality Dividend Dynamic Index Fund (IQDY) and the FlexShares International Quality Dividend Defensive Index Fund (IQDE). Like FlexShares’ domestic variations on the same theme, the three funds are distinguished by their approach to market beta. IQDY aims for a little more risk than the market, IQDE for a little less, and IQDF tries to match it. In practice, all three funds share many of the same top holdings, including Royal Bank of Canada, GlaxoSmithKline and L’Oreal. The difference comes down to weighting, with IQDY leaning a little more on volatile tech stocks than IQDE and IQDF.
Many FlexShares funds charge a premium for the Northern Trust expertise, but the FlexShares international dividend ETFs are priced competitively. Still, they are multiples more expensive than plain-vanilla international equity ETFs. Is it worth it? Investors can look at it several different ways. There are other international factor strategies out there, like the Vident International Equity Fund (VIDI) or the highly-concentrated (and extremely expensive) First Trust Dorsey Wright International Focus 5 ETF. There are plenty of other international dividend ETFs like the WisdomTree Global ex-U.S. Quality Dividend Growth Fund (DNL), the SPDR S&P International Dividend ETF (DWX), or the iShares International Select Dividend ETF (IDV). There are dividend-focused funds that mix U.S. and international exposure, like the SPDR S&P Global Dividend ETF (WDIV) and the GlobalX SuperDividend ETF (SDIV). Lastly, investors might want to compare returns and portfolio with an ultra-low-cost international index fund, like the iShares Core MSCI Total International Stock ETF (IXUS), which lacks fancy factors but offers more liquidity at a fraction of the price.
This section compares how balanced and deep this ETF is relative to its peers.
| IQDF | ETF Database Category Average | FactSet Segment Average | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Number of Holdings | 226 | 714 | 985 |
| % of Assets in Top 10 | 17.03% | 21.87% | 32.25% |
| % of Assets in Top 15 | 22.43% | 27.67% | 38.71% |
| % of Assets in Top 50 | 50.72% | 52.20% | 62.65% |
| IQDF | ETF Database Category Average | FactSet Segment Average | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Large (>12.9B) | 64.80% | 69.66% | 63.32% |
| Mid (>2.7B) | 35.20% | 24.69% | 25.19% |
| Small (>600M) | 0.00% | 2.96% | 4.53% |
| Micro (<600M) | 0.00% | 0.27% | 0.29% |
This section compares the P/E ratio of this ETF to its peers.
This section compares the dividend yield of this ETF to its peers.
| IQDF | ETF Database Category Average | FactSet Segment Average | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dividend | $ 0.35 | $ 0.44 | $ 0.28 |
| Dividend Date | 2021-09-17 | N/A | N/A |
| Annual Dividend Rate | $ 0.90 | $ 1.06 | $ 0.74 |
| Annual Dividend Yield | 3.49% | 2.60% | 1.82% |
View charts featuring ETF fund flow data.
5 Day Net Flows: 0 1 Month Net Flows: 0 3 Month Net Flows: 7.94 M 6 Month Net Flows: 42.41 M 1 Year Net Flows: 34.07 M 3 Year Net Flows: -222.78 M 5 Year Net Flows: 115.2 M 10 Year Net Flows: 668.33 MView charts that break down the influence that fund flows and price had on overall assets.
The adjacent table gives investors an individual Realtime Rating for IQDF on several different metrics, including liquidity, expenses, performance, volatility, dividend, concentration of holdings in addition to an overall rating. The "A+ Metric Rated ETF" field, available to ETF Database Pro members, shows the ETF in the Foreign Large Cap Equities with the highest Metric Realtime Rating for each individual field. To view all of this data, sign up for a free 14-day trial for ETF Database Pro. To view information on how the ETF Database Realtime Ratings work, click here.
This section compares the cost efficiency of this ETF to its peers.
| Max ST Capital Gains Rate | 39.60% |
| Max LT Capital Gains Rate | 20.00% |
| Tax On Distributions | Qualified dividends |
| Distributes K1 | No |
This section shows how this ETF has performed relative to its peers.
| IQDF |
ETF Database
Category Average |
Factset Segment
Average |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 Month Return | 2.59% | 0.90% | 1.77% |
| 3 Month Return | 1.93% | 1.79% | 1.36% |
| YTD Return | 11.50% | 9.91% | 7.30% |
| 1 Year Return | 29.62% | 24.73% | 20.43% |
| 3 Year Return | 32.32% | 27.19% | 36.22% |
| 5 Year Return | 44.55% | 30.86% | 43.23% |
The following charts reflect the geographic spread of IQDF's underlying holdings.
| Region | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Europe | 48.74% |
| Asia Pacific | 42.33% |
| North, Central and South America | 8.83% |
| Country | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Japan | 13.1% |
| United Kingdom | 9.46% |
| China | 9.16% |
| Switzerland | 8.28% |
| Taiwan | 6.12% |
| Canada | 5.54% |
| France | 5.18% |
| Germany | 4.65% |
| Sweden | 3.84% |
| Russia | 3.82% |
| Spain | 3.07% |
| India | 3.0% |
| Australia | 2.95% |
| Hong Kong | 2.65% |
| South Korea | 2.07% |
| Netherlands | 1.99% |
| Finland | 1.86% |
| Thailand | 1.79% |
| Italy | 1.77% |
| Indonesia | 1.62% |
| Denmark | 1.46% |
| Brazil | 1.12% |
| South Africa | 0.96% |
| Turkey | 0.95% |
| Mexico | 0.77% |
| Chile | 0.64% |
| Malaysia | 0.59% |
| Austria | 0.44% |
| Belgium | 0.42% |
| Qatar | 0.27% |
| Greece | 0.16% |
| Saudi Arabia | 0.07% |
| Luxembourg | 0.06% |
| New Zealand | 0.04% |
| Cyprus | 0.03% |
The following charts reflect the allocation of IQDF's underlying holdings.
| Sector | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Finance | 24.73% |
| Consumer Non-Durables | 9.55% |
| Health Technology | 8.58% |
| Non-Energy Minerals | 7.56% |
| Electronic Technology | 6.73% |
| Energy Minerals | 6.25% |
| Consumer Durables | 6.03% |
| Technology Services | 5.92% |
| Utilities | 4.47% |
| Producer Manufacturing | 4.42% |
| Retail Trade | 3.47% |
| Communications | 2.87% |
| Commercial Services | 2.65% |
| Transportation | 2.36% |
| Industrial Services | 2.15% |
| Process Industries | 1.44% |
| Consumer Services | 0.44% |
| Distribution Services | 0.28% |
| Market Cap | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Large | 64.8% |
| Mid | 35.2% |
| Small | 0.0% |
| Micro | 0.0% |
| Region | Percentage |
|---|
| Asset | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Share/Common/Ordinary | 94.94% |
| Preferred Equity | 3.12% |
| Non-Voting Depositary Receipt | 1.08% |
| American Depositary Receipt | 0.76% |
| Sector | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Finance | 24.73% |
| Consumer Non-Durables | 9.55% |
| Health Technology | 8.58% |
| Non-Energy Minerals | 7.56% |
| Electronic Technology | 6.73% |
| Energy Minerals | 6.25% |
| Consumer Durables | 6.03% |
| Technology Services | 5.92% |
| Utilities | 4.47% |
| Producer Manufacturing | 4.42% |
| Retail Trade | 3.47% |
| Communications | 2.87% |
| Commercial Services | 2.65% |
| Transportation | 2.36% |
| Industrial Services | 2.15% |
| Process Industries | 1.44% |
| Consumer Services | 0.44% |
| Distribution Services | 0.28% |
This section shows how the volatility of this ETF compares to the peer group ETF Database Category.
ETF Database's Financial Advisor Reports are designed as an easy handout for clients to explain the key information on a fund. Includes new analyst insights and classification data.
Fact sheets are issued by the ETF provider and framed by ETF Database. Information contained within the fact sheet is not guaranteed to be timely or accurate.
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