A smart beta exchange traded fund, the WisdomTree U.S. Total Dividend ETF (DTD) debuted on 06/16/2006, and offers broad exposure to the Style Box - Large Cap Value 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.
Because market cap weighted indexes provide a low-cost, convenient, and transparent way of replicating market returns, they work well for investors who believe in market efficiency.
But, there are some investors who would rather invest in smart beta funds; these funds track non-cap weighted strategies, and are a strong option for those who prefer choosing great stocks in order to beat the market.
This kind of index follows this same mindset, as it attempts to pick stocks that have better chances of risk-return performance; non-cap weighted strategies base selection on certain fundamental characteristics, or a mix of such characteristics.
Methodologies like equal-weighting, one of the simplest options out there, fundamental weighting, and volatility/momentum based weighting are all choices offered to investors in this space, but not all of them can deliver superior returns.
Fund Sponsor & Index
The fund is sponsored by Wisdomtree. It has amassed assets over $1.64 billion, making it one of the average sized ETFs in the Style Box - Large Cap Value. Before fees and expenses, DTD seeks to match the performance of the WisdomTree U.S. Dividend Index.
The WisdomTree U.S. Dividend Index is a fundamentally-weighted index that defines the dividend-paying portion of the U.S. equity market.
Cost & Other Expenses
Investors should also pay attention to an ETF's expense ratio. Lower cost products will produce better results than those with a higher cost, assuming all other metrics remain the same.
Operating expenses on an annual basis are 0.28% for this ETF, which makes it on par with most peer products in the space.
It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 1.83%.
Sector Exposure and Top Holdings
ETFs offer diversified exposure and thus minimize single stock risk, but it is still important to delve into a fund's holdings before investing. Most ETFs are very transparent products and many disclose their holdings on a daily basis.
For DTD, it has heaviest allocation in the Financials sector --about 19.2% of the portfolio --while Information Technology and Healthcare round out the top three.
Looking at individual holdings, Nvidia Corp (NVDA) accounts for about 3.23% of total assets, followed by Jpmorgan Chase & Co (JPM) and Microsoft Corp (MSFT).
Its top 10 holdings account for approximately 21.7% of DTD's total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
Year-to-date, the WisdomTree U.S. Total Dividend ETF has added roughly 12.49% so far, and was up about 20.69% over the last 12 months (as of 07/16/2026). DTD has traded between $79.83 $94.66 in this past 52-week period.
The fund has a beta of 0.77 and standard deviation of 11.65% for the trailing three-year period, which makes DTD a medium risk choice in this particular space. With about 807 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk .
Alternatives
WisdomTree U.S. Total Dividend 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.
Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF (SCHD) tracks Dow Jones U.S. Dividend 100 Index and the Vanguard Value Index Fund ETF Shares (VTV) tracks CRSP U.S. Large Cap Value Index. Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF has $98.36 billion in assets, Vanguard Value Index Fund ETF Shares has $185.62 billion. SCHD has an expense ratio of 0.06% and VTV changes 0.03%.
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
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WisdomTree U.S. Total Dividend ETF (DTD): ETF Research Reports
This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).