IDLV vs IQDG

IDLVBInvesco S&P International Developed Low Volatility ETF

IQDGCWisdomTree International Quality Dividend Growth Fund

In short

IDLV Screens developed markets for calm instead of size: roughly 200 international large and mid caps chosen by an S&P low volatility index, run on the same rulebook since 2012.

IQDG WisdomTree's quality-dividend-growth idea, taken overseas in 2016: roughly 300 international dividend payers in one ticker, run by a fund that has hugged its benchmark about as tightly as this corner of the market gets.

Stated mandate

IDLV The Fund seeks exposure to large- and mid-cap stocks from international developed markets through the S&P BMI International Developed Low Volatility Index. It invests at least 90% of total assets in securities comprising that Index.

IQDG The Fund seeks to track, before fees and expenses, the price and yield performance of the WisdomTree International Quality Dividend Growth Index.

Why people hold it

• IDLV The low-vol screen is a rule, not a mood. The fund keeps at least 90% of assets in the S&P BMI International Developed Low Volatility Index it advertises.invesco.com
• Holdings line up with the stated mandate: about 200 developed-market large and mid caps, no drift into off-label names.
• Live since 2012, so this is a long-running version of the low-volatility idea abroad, not a freshly launched factor experiment. Distributions come quarterly.

• IQDG Does the one job an index fund has: tracking has been among the tightest in its international-factor peer group.
• About 300 holdings, so no single overseas name or market carries the fund.
• Pays quarterly, which suits investors who want the international dividend stream to actually show up in cash.
• At 0.42% a year, the fee sits right around the middle of its international-factor cohort rather than at the pricey end.

Worth knowing

• IDLV At 0.25% it runs above the cohort median of 0.18%, and well above plain cap-weighted developed peers like VEA and SPDW at 0.03%. The volatility screen is what the extra buys.
• Thinly traded for its category, so limit orders and mid-session trading matter more here than with the giants of developed-markets indexing.
• A volatility screen reshuffles the map: country and sector weights can sit far from a standard developed-markets index, and the fund can lag when riskier stocks lead.

• IQDG Cheaper shelf-mates exist in the same cohort: QLVD at 0.15% and EFAV and ACWV at 0.20% all undercut it.
• This is a quality-and-growth screen, not a volatility screen. It rides market swings more fully than min-vol peers like EFAV or ACWV.
• Volume is moderate rather than heavy, so spreads are worth a look before placing size.

Full IDLV profile⁠

Full IQDG profile⁠