Rolle im Portfolio
The db x-trackers STOXX Global Select Dividend 100 ETF provides equity exposure to the highest dividend paying companies in America, Europe and Asia/Pacific.
The index this ETF tracks is broadly diversified across multiple countries and economic sectors, so this ETF is a suitable core equity holding, especially for investors looking for an income-enhanced strategy.
This fund may also suit investors looking to protect their portfolio from inflation’s effects. Empirical studies have shown that those companies that tend to pay out rising dividends generally provide goods and services that are able to keep pace with inflation. For example, utilities, energy and food companies find ways to pass on their input costs to consumers.
Because this fund’s benchmark index weights constituents by dividend yield rather than market capitalisation, investors will not necessarily find the largest and best known global companies among its top holdings. Additionally, the index contains smaller companies than one might normally expect in a broad based global market cap-weighted index.
Investors looking at this fund should be aware of potential value traps, however. A value trap occurs when a company’s dividend yield is high only because of its share price is low, reflecting the fact that the company may be in trouble.
Fundamentale Analyse
While many investors chase capital gains, historically much of the total return from equities has come in the form of dividends.
In the wake of the financial crisis, value strategies grew in popularity as investors looked to shield themselves from market volatility. The current global low interest rate environment has only reinforced the shift as investors seek higher yields provided by dividend paying stocks. Depending on the market, dividends have historically accounted for 40% to 60% of the returns from investing in stocks. A policy of regularly paying out earnings can discipline corporate management and reduce the chance of unprofitable acquisitions. As of end May 2014, this ETF’s underlying index had a yield of 4.7%, compared with 1.5% for the MSCI World Index.
During the financial crisis, many firms which were traditionally big dividend payers - in particular banks - cut payouts and saw their share prices fall as investors fled to safe-havens. However, cost-cutting exercises left many companies with significant cash reserves which are now being returned to investors, in some cases even topping pre-crisis dividend payout levels.
U.S. companies – the ETF’s largest geographical exposure – continue to hold vast amounts of cash on their balance sheets and are increasingly under pressure to do something with it. Indeed, it has started to flow back to investors. The S&P 500 reached a year-to-date average payout ratio of 32% in July 2014 - one of the highest levels in the last ten years.
In the current low yield environment, dividend stocks provide an alternative way to access various sectors with steady income. In particular, the utilities sector--representing 15-17% of the index’s value-- has historically produced strong, stable cash flows and dividends.
Indexkonstruktion
The STOXX Global Select Dividend 100 Index includes the 100 highest dividend paying stocks in America, Europe and Asia/Pacific relative to their home market. Stocks are screened by historical non-negative dividend-per-share rates, and their dividend to earnings-per-share ratios must be less than or equal to 60-80% depending on the region. The component stocks are capped at 15% of the index’s value and reviewed annually in March. The largest country exposure is the U.S. (22-24%), followed by the UK (14-16%) and Australia (10-12%). Utilities are the largest sector weighting (15-17%), followed by real estate (12-14%) and insurance (10-12%). The largest components are Seadrill, Monadelphous, and Banco Santander, all with weights of 2-3%.
Fondskonstruktion
The fund uses synthetic replication to provide exposure to the underlying benchmark, entering a funded swap with parent company Deutsche Bank. Investors’ cash is transferred to Deutsche Bank, which then puts collateral in a segregated account opened in the name of Deutsche Bank and pledged to the fund. The collateral is marked to market daily and its composition can change every day. At the time of writing, the collateral consists almost entirely of equities from a variety of sectors. Its total value was equivalent to 100.57% of the fund’s net asset value. In compliance with UCITS III rules, it cannot have net counterparty exposure exceeding 10% of the fund’s NAV, implying that the collateral must at a minimum be valued at 90% of the fund’s net assets. At the time of writing, it mainly consists of U.S., Japanese and European equities from a variety of industries, as well as roughly 40% government and corporate bonds. Collateral is held and managed by Bank of New York Mellon (Luxembourg). In the case of an enforcement event—which could be any of a number of a wide range of actual and/or potential default or termination events on the part of Deutsche Bank—the fund will be entitled by Luxembourg law at that time to enforce the pledge and sell the collateral assets without giving prior notice to Deutsche Bank. Under the terms of the swap, the counterparty agrees to provide the fund with exposure to the total return of the underlying index, net of any associated taxes, costs, or fees, in exchange for the return on the substitute basket. The return from the swap assumes that all dividends paid by the underlying stocks are reinvested in the index. This fund does not pay out any dividend distributions.
Gebühren
The fund levies a total expense ratio of 0.50%, which is comparable to other ETFs. This falls in the upper of the range for ETFs tracking global equity income. Other costs potentially borne by the unitholder but not included in the total expense ratio include swap costs, and bid-ask spreads and brokerage fees when buy and sell orders are placed for ETF shares.
Alternativen
As of writing, there are only two alternative funds providing exposure to global dividend stocks. The iShares STOXX Global Select Dividend 100 (DE) ETF uses full replication and charges a TER of 0.45%. Lyxor SG Global Quality Income, which follows a methodologically similar index, instead uses synthetic replication and charges a TER of 0.45%.
However, there is no shortage of ETFs providing standard market capitalisation weighted global equity exposure, though investors in these funds would not enjoy the potential benefits of a dividend-enhanced strategy. The index is comprised of around 1500 stocks, heavily overweighting US equities (50-55% of the index’s value). On a sector level, financials are the biggest exposure representing 20-25% of the index.
