The State Street SPDR S&P Global Dividend ETF (WDIV) was launched on 05/29/2013, and is a smart beta exchange traded fund designed to offer broad exposure to the Global Large-Cap Value Equity ETF category of the market.

What Are Smart Beta ETFs?

The ETF industry has long been dominated by products based on market cap weighted indexes, a strategy created to reflect the 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.

If you're the kind of investor who would rather try and beat the market through good stock selection, then smart beta funds are your best choice; this fund class is known for tracking non-cap weighted strategies.

Based on specific fundamental characteristics, or a combination of such, these indexes attempt to pick stocks that have a better chance of risk-return performance.

This area offers many different investment choices, such as simplest equal-weighting, fundamental weighting and volatility/momentum based weighting methodologies; however, not all of these strategies can deliver superior results.

Fund Sponsor & Index

The fund is sponsored by State Street Investment Management. It has amassed assets over $276.58 million, making it one of the average sized ETFs in the Global Large-Cap Value Equity ETF. Before fees and expenses, this particular fund seeks to match the performance of the S&P Global Dividend Aristocrats Index.

The S&P Global Dividend Aristocrats Index measures the performance of high dividend-yield companies included in the S&P Global BMI that have followed a managed-dividends policy of increasing or stable dividends for at least ten consecutive years.

Cost & Other Expenses

When considering an ETF's total return, expense ratios are an important factor. And, cheaper funds can significantly outperform their more expensive cousins in the long term if all other factors remain equal.

Operating expenses on an annual basis are 0.40% for WDIV, making it one of the cheaper products in the space.

WDIV's 12-month trailing dividend yield is 4.10%.

Sector Exposure and Top Holdings

While ETFs offer diversified exposure, which minimizes single stock risk, a deep look into a fund's holdings is a valuable exercise. And, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.

Looking at individual holdings, Lenovo Group Ltd accounts for about 2.51% of total assets, followed by Telus Corp (T) and Legal + General Group Plc (LGEN).

WDIV's top 10 holdings account for about 16.6% of its total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

The ETF has added about 12.72% so far this year and it's up approximately 19.88% in the last one year (as of 07/28/2026). In the past 52-week period, it has traded between $70.16 and $83.16

WDIV has a beta of 0.55 and standard deviation of 11.42% for the trailing three-year period, which makes the fund a low risk choice in the space. With about 118 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk .

Alternatives

State Street SPDR S&P Global Dividend ETF is a reasonable option for investors seeking to outperform the Global Large-Cap Value Equity ETF segment of the market. However, there are other ETFs in the space which investors could consider.

State Street SPDR Global Dow ETF (DGT) tracks Global Dow Index and the Pacer Global Cash Cows Dividend ETF (GCOW) tracks Pacer Global Cash Cows Dividend Index. State Street SPDR Global Dow ETF has $609.97 million in assets, Pacer Global Cash Cows Dividend ETF has $3.35 billion. DGT has an expense ratio of 0.50% and GCOW changes 0.60%.

Investors looking for cheaper and lower-risk options should consider traditional market cap weighted ETFs that aim to match the returns of the Global Large-Cap Value Equity ETF

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

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State Street SPDR S&P Global Dividend ETF (WDIV): ETF Research Reports

This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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