3 International Dividend ETFs That Trump the U.S. for Income

by David Fabian | May 22, 2014 8:57 am

Income investors are running into a sizable problem when trying to put together a diversified portfolio of dividend stocks.

The crux of the issue: rising prices and falling yields. Namely, at this point, the major domestic dividend indices are yielding a meager 3%.

Case in point: the iShares Select Dividend ETF (DVY[1]) and Vanguard High Yield Dividend ETF (VYM[2]). Both hold high-quality companies that are characterized by their above-average dividend yields. However, both of these widely owned dividend ETFs have now seen their annual yields fall close to 3% and are in danger of slipping even farther.

While the last few years of growth have been exceptional for these ETFs and their underlying stocks, the pace of dividend growth hasn’t been able to keep up with stock price gains.

That’s great if you’re trading, but if you’re a conservative investor or retiree relying on your portfolio to generate a healthy income stream, a focus solely on domestic dividend stocks leaves a lot to be desired.

One option is to diversify your portfolio with high-yield asset classes[3] such as real estate investment trusts (REITs), preferred stocks, master limited partnerships (MLPs) and junk bonds. But while that makes perfect sense in the context of a multi-asset solution, many of those areas are going to be subject to unique risks such as interest rate direction and credit concerns.

A better option lies just across the ocean.

Foreign Dividend ETFs

A number of overseas dividend options may provide both better yield and a more attractive valuation proposition than domestic equities. At this moment, three dividend ETFs in particular stand out:

• One dividend ETF that has been a core holding in my clients’ income portfolios[4] for some time now is the iShares International Select Dividend ETF (IDV[5]). This ETF is made up of 100 stocks of foreign developed companies primarily centered around Europe, with a modest allocation to Australia as well. The current 30-day SEC yield on IDV is 3.6%, and dividends are paid on a quarterly basis. Expenses are 0.5%, or $50 for every $10,000 invested.
• Another developed international ETF to consider is the First Trust STOXX European Select Dividend Index Fund (FDD[6]). This ETF selects just 30 companies from the STOXX Europe 600 Index according to their dividend history and other fundamental metrics. Companies are then dividend-weighted within the ETF, which produces a current yield of 3.91%. In addition, the listed price-to-earnings ratio of FDD is 12.27 (as of April 30), while DVY has a relatively expensive P/E of 19.32. FDD charges 0.6% in expenses.
• Moving farther down the relative valuation spectrum is the WisdomTree Emerging Markets Equity Income Fund (DEM[7]). DEM has nearly $3.9 billion invested in 315 dividend stocks of emerging-market countries such as Russia, China and Taiwan. This ETF is also dividend-weighted and holdings must meet liquidity and market capitalization requirements. Emerging markets have vastly underperformed domestic and developed country peers over the last several years, which may make them attractive for a reflation comeback. The financial and energy sectors make up the bulk of the underlying companies in DEM, and the current yield is listed at 4.1%. Expenses are 0.63%.

One thing to note with international equities is that the quarterly dividends often experience peaks and valleys throughout the year. This lumpy income stream is due to companies distributing special dividends and fiscal year-end distributions that might not coincide with the relatively steady pace of domestic stocks. Keep in mind that this can also lead to misguided metrics when comparing the varying yield statistics, which is why you should carefully research the dividend histories of these ETFs.

Bottom Line

Investing in international markets can be an excellent way to diversify your equity income portfolio and offers the potential for enhanced returns as well. While I don’t recommend abandoning U.S. dividend ETFs, you might want to consider complementing those holdings with select international positions.

In addition, with the recent return of global equity volatility, newcomers to these themes would be well served to implement a stop-loss or sell discipline[8] to limit downside risk.

David Fabian is Managing Partner and Chief Operations Officer of FMD Capital Management. As of this writing, he was long IDV.  Learn More: Why I love ETFs, And You Should Too[9]

Source URL: https://investorplace.com/2014/05/dividend-etf-dem-fdd-idv/

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