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Designed to provide broad exposure to the World ETFs category of the market, the Vident International Equity Strategy ETF (VIDI) is a smart beta exchange traded fund launched on 10/29/2013.

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.

Investors who believe in market efficiency should consider market cap indexes, as they replicate market returns in a low-cost, convenient, and transparent way.

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.

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

Managed by Vident Financial, VIDI has amassed assets over $340.74 million, making it one of the larger ETFs in the World ETFs. This particular fund seeks to match the performance of the Vident International Equity Index before fees and expenses.

The Vident Core International Equity Index is an international equity index that combines principles-based country and securities selection with sophisticated risk management. The index balances risk across developed and emerging economies and emphasizes those with favorable conditions for growth.

Cost & Other Expenses

Since cheaper funds tend to produce better results than more expensive funds, assuming all other factors remain equal, it is important for investors to pay attention to an ETF's expense ratio.

Annual operating expenses for VIDI are 0.61%, which makes it on par with most peer products in the space.

It's 12-month trailing dividend yield comes in at 3.50%.

Sector Exposure and Top Holdings

It is important to delve into an ETF's holdings before investing despite the many upsides to these kinds of funds like diversified exposure, which minimizes single stock risk. And, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.

Looking at individual holdings, Cash & Other (Cash&Other) accounts for about 1.12% of total assets, followed by Medtronic Plc (MDT) and Jazz Pharmaceuticals Plc (JAZZ).

The top 10 holdings account for about 6.32% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

The ETF has gained about 4.35% and was up about 13.95% so far this year and in the past one year (as of 09/13/2024), respectively. VIDI has traded between $21.52 and $26.33 during this last 52-week period.

VIDI has a beta of 0.95 and standard deviation of 15.94% for the trailing three-year period, which makes the fund a medium risk choice in the space. With about 257 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Alternatives

Vident International Equity Strategy ETF is a reasonable option for investors seeking to outperform the World ETFs segment of the market. However, there are other ETFs in the space which investors could consider.

Vanguard Total International Stock ETF (VXUS) tracks FTSE Global All Cap ex US Index and the Vanguard FTSE Developed Markets ETF (VEA) tracks FTSE Developed All Cap ex US Index. Vanguard Total International Stock ETF has $75.63 billion in assets, Vanguard FTSE Developed Markets ETF has $139.05 billion. VXUS has an expense ratio of 0.08% and VEA charges 0.06%.

Investors looking for cheaper and lower-risk options should consider traditional market cap weighted ETFs that aim to match the returns of the 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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Vident International Equity Strategy ETF (VIDI): ETF Research Reports

Medtronic PLC (MDT) : Free Stock Analysis Report

Jazz Pharmaceuticals PLC (JAZZ) : Free Stock Analysis Report

Vanguard FTSE Developed Markets ETF (VEA): ETF Research Reports

Vanguard Total International Stock ETF (VXUS): ETF Research Reports

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Zacks Investment Research

The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.