The WisdomTree U.S. Quality Dividend Growth ETF (DGRW) was launched on 05/22/2013, and is a smart beta exchange traded fund designed to offer broad exposure to the Style Box - Large Cap Value category of the market.

What Are Smart Beta ETFs?

The ETF industry has traditionally been dominated by products based on market capitalization weighted indexes that are designed to represent the market or a particular segment of the market.

Market cap weighted indexes work great for investors who believe in market efficiency. They provide a low-cost, convenient and transparent way of replicating market returns.

There are some investors, though, who think it's possible to beat the market with great stock selection; this group likely invests in another class of funds known as smart beta, which track non-cap weighted strategies.

By attempting to pick stocks that have a better chance of risk-return performance, non-cap weighted indexes are based on certain fundamental characteristics, or a combination of such.

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 Wisdomtree. It has amassed assets over $16.63 billion, making it one of the larger ETFs in the Style Box - Large Cap Value. This particular fund, before fees and expenses, seeks to match the performance of the WisdomTree U.S. Quality Dividend Growth Index.

The WisdomTree U.S. Quality Dividend Growth Index is a fundamentally weighted index that consists of dividend-paying stocks with growth characteristics.

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.

Operating expenses on an annual basis are 0.28% for this ETF, which makes it on par with most peer products in the space.

DGRW's 12-month trailing dividend yield is 1.28%.

Sector Exposure and Top Holdings

Even though ETFs offer diversified exposure that minimizes single stock risk, investors should also look at the actual holdings inside the fund. Luckily, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.

For DGRW, it has heaviest allocation in the Information Technology sector --about 30.3% of the portfolio --while Healthcare and Industrials round out the top three.

When you look at individual holdings, Nvidia Corp (NVDA) accounts for about 8% of the fund's total assets, followed by Microsoft Corp (MSFT) and Apple Inc (AAPL).

DGRW's top 10 holdings account for about 37.2% of its total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

So far this year, DGRW return is roughly 8.01%, and it's up approximately 13.63% in the last one year (as of 07/31/2026). During this past 52-week period, the fund has traded between $84.28 and $97.97.

The fund has a beta of 0.82 and standard deviation of 12.44% for the trailing three-year period, which makes DGRW a medium risk choice in this particular space. With about 199 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk .

Alternatives

WisdomTree U.S. Quality Dividend Growth ETF is a reasonable option for investors seeking to outperform the Style Box - Large Cap Value segment of the market. However, there are other ETFs in the space which investors could consider.

iShares Core Dividend Growth ETF (DGRO) tracks Morningstar US Dividend Growth Index and the Vanguard Dividend Appreciation Index Fund ETF Shares (VIG) tracks NASDAQ US Dividend Achievers Select Index. iShares Core Dividend Growth ETF has $42.86 billion in assets, Vanguard Dividend Appreciation Index Fund ETF Shares has $111.74 billion. DGRO has an expense ratio of 0.08% and VIG changes 0.04%.

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

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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WisdomTree U.S. Quality Dividend Growth ETF (DGRW): ETF Research Reports

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

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