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Top 10 Domestic, Top 10 International Dividend ETFs

January 9, 2015
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One of the bright spots of the past several years for yield-hungry investors has been dividend-oriented ETFs. Both domestic and international dividend ETFs offer the prospect of attractive yields along with solid share-price appreciation. But in 2014, it was domestic ETFs that trounced their international brethren in terms of total return.

The two tables below offer a stark contrast between the recent performance of the top 10 domestic income ETFs and the top 10 international dividend ETFs.

Ticker Name 3MO% 2014% Yield% (12M)
RDIV RevenueShares Ultra Dividend 7.37 17.21 3.36
PEY PowerShares HighYield Dividend Achievers 8.43 13.92 3.24
FVD First Trust Value Line Dividend Fund 7.56 12.89 2.46
DON WisdomTree Midcap Dividend Fund 6.98 12.23 2.56
TDIV FT Nasdaq Tech Dividend Index Fund 2.21 12.20 2.80
DHS WisdomTree High-Yielding Equity Fund 3.84 11.72 2.91
DTN WisdomTree Dividend Top 100 Fund 4.50 11.53 3.07
DLN WisdomTree Large Cap Dividend Fund 4.20 11.45 2.34
DTD WisdomTree Total Dividend Fund 4.71 11.37 2.42
DVY iShares Dow Jones Select Dividend Index 7.50 11.28 3.03
Ticker Name 3MO% 2014% Yield% (12M)
GULF WisdomTree Middle East Dividend -15.41 2.10 4.85
AXJL WisdomTree Asia-Pacific EX-J -2.32 (1.82) 3.59
PID PowerShares International Dividend Achievers -5.40 (4.94) 3.92
FDD First Trust DJ STOXX Select Dividend 30 -3.40 (5.57) 4.30
DIM WisdomTree International MidCap Div -1.64 (5.95) 3.46
FGD First Trust DJ Global Select Dividend -4.66 (6.35) 5.18
DGS WisdomTree Emerging Markets Small Cap Div -6.62 (6.36) 3.20
DVYA iShares Asia Pacific Dividend 30 Index Fund -4.25 (8.12) 5.28
DEW WisdomTree Europe High-Yield Fund -5.22 (8.17) 5.00
IQDE FlexShares-Int Qual Dividend Defensive -6.01 (8.30) 4.02

Here we see that all of the domestic funds were firmly in the black last year, and all had double-digit-plus percentage gains. Meanwhile, all but one of the top international dividend funds finished in negative territory.

Even though international dividend ETFs offer higher yields than their domestic counterparts, there is no doubt that in 2014 the juice was definitely with domestic dividend ETFs.

But, will 2015 see more of the same, or will this be the year when money returns to international equities? While nobody knows this answer for certain, what I do think is that at least from a value and bargain perspective, international dividend ETFs look a lot more tempting to buy.

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