Best ETFs
Schwab's dividend ETF returned 22.8% in a year. Its income rate still trails a one-month bill.
Xtrackers MSCI EAFE High Dividend Yield Equity ETF
$32.83+0.26 (+0.80%)
- 0.09%
- $2.2B
- +15.7%
- 3.89%
- 0.2M sh
- $32.44
- low $29.17high $34.56
The ETF.net HDEF Grade
A
Score 75 out of 100
- 5 of 35
Score 75 of 100 falls in the A band. A is 70 or higher, B 55 to under 70, C 40 to under 55, D 25 to under 40, F under 25.
Cost
The fund’s net expense ratio, ranked against its category.A90 out of 100Rank 4 of 35Mission
Whether the fund did what it promised, tested against its stated mandate.A84 out of 100Rank 20 of 29Risk
How the fund held up when markets fell: downside volatility, drawdowns and tail loss.B64 out of 100Rank 8 of 35Tradability
How easy the fund is to trade: daily volume, and how far its price strays from net asset value.A81 out of 100Rank 3 of 35Holdings
How concentrated the fund is, and how complete and current its disclosed holdings are.D30 out of 100Rank 28 of 33Durability
Whether the fund is likely to stay open, judged by its age, its assets and its issuer’s assets.B66 out of 100Rank 10 of 35
Our read on HDEF
AIts cohort manufactures income with options overlays. HDEF skips the machinery: roughly 120 higher-yielding developed-market stocks, tracked passively, for nine basis points.
The Fund uses a passive indexing approach to track the MSCI EAFE High Dividend Yield Index before fees and expenses.
Why people hold it
- Nine basis points. The overlay funds it sits beside run 0.42% (EFAA) to 0.83% (OVF), against a peer-group median near half a percent.
- Income comes from dividends the companies declare, not from selling calls, so no written option sits on the upside. Distributions arrive quarterly.
- The index screens for quality alongside yield, so a name has to clear more than a big payout number to get in.
- Live since 2015 and now a billion-dollar-plus fund, following the same MSCI index the whole way rather than rebuilding the strategy.
Worth knowing
- No currency hedge in the mandate: euro, yen and pound moves against the dollar land in returns right alongside the stocks.
- Yield screening cuts a broad developed-markets universe down to roughly 120 names, so this is a slice of EAFE, not the full field.
- Moderately traded rather than a headline ticker, so spreads can widen in quiet stretches. Limit orders are the usual answer.
HDEF Holdings
- Stocks
- 112
- 41%
- SHEL.L
Sectors
- Financials27.8%
- Consumer Staples18.9%
- Health Care15.8%
- Energy12.8%
- Utilities7.8%
- Industrials7.3%
- Consumer Discretionary3.8%
- Communication3.8%
- Real Estate0.8%
- Technology0.6%
- Materials0.5%
Geography
- Switzerland19.66%
- United Kingdom18.72%
- France12.61%
- Germany9.21%
- Japan8.44%
- Singapore6.27%
- Spain5.00%
- Denmark3.20%
- 16.89%
Developed 98% · Emerging 2%
HDEF Performance
Shows how $10,000 changes over the selected period, with cash distributions reinvested at the closing price on each ex-dividend date.
HDEF$11,566
Returns run to the Oct 12, 2026 close, with cash distributions reinvested. Each period starts on the same date that many months or years earlier. Periods over one year show the average yearly return.
| Period | HDEF |
|---|---|
| Year to date | +8.7% |
| 1 month | −2.4% |
| 3 months | +0.2% |
| 1 year | +15.7% |
| 3 years | +17.8% |
| 5 years | +12.3% |
| 10 years | +8.2% |
Calendar-year total return with cash distributions hypothetically reinvested at the ex-dividend date’s closing price. The current year shows year to date.
| Year | Return bar | HDEF |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 YTD | +8.7% | |
| 2025 | +33.0% | |
| 2024 | +2.9% | |
| 2023 | +18.6% | |
| 2022 | −2.6% | |
| 2021 | +7.0% | |
| 2020 | −1.9% |
HDEF in the news
HDEF Dividends
- 3.89%
- $1.27
- $0.23 per share
- Quarterly
Distribution history
HDEF Risk
- 11.7%
How it’s calculated: standard deviation
The sample standard deviation of monthly total returns, multiplied by the square root of 12.
Uses up to 36 complete months, with at least 12 required. Total returns include reinvested distributions.
- 1.06
How it’s calculated: Sharpe ratio
Subtract each month’s Treasury-bill return from the fund’s monthly total return.
Divide the average of those excess returns by their sample standard deviation, then multiply by the square root of 12.
Uses up to 36 complete months, with at least 12 required. Each month uses the Treasury yield quoted at the end of the previous month.
- −23.7%
How it’s calculated: maximum drawdown
The largest percentage decline from an earlier peak, using total returns with reinvested distributions.
Uses up to five years through the last close, with at least 12 months required.
- 0.68
How it’s calculated: beta
The beta figure is supplied by FMP. The comparison index depends on the fund’s broad asset class.
HDEF Cost
0.09%
HDEF0.09%
- The middle half of International Dividend Index funds
- Median 0.50%
3 of the 34 International Dividend Index funds charge less.
Other funds in International Dividend Index
- AIGROiShares International Dividend Growth ETFExpense ratio 0.15%1 year return +16.0%
- ASCHYSchwab International Dividend Equity ETFExpense ratio 0.08%1 year return +18.7%
- ALVHIFranklin International Low Volatility High Dividend Index ETFExpense ratio 0.40%1 year return +27.0%
- AFIDIFidelity International High Dividend ETFExpense ratio 0.18%1 year return +20.5%
- AVIGIVanguard International Dividend Appreciation ETFExpense ratio 0.07%1 year return +9.5%