FlexShares International Quality Dividend Defensive Index Fund (IQDE)
AI Summary
The fund tracks an index that aims to provide exposure to high-quality, income-oriented international securities with an emphasis on long-term capital growth. The index selects non-U.S. companies from a broad international index, screening for certain liquidity and dividend criteria. It then uses an optimization process to maximize an overall quality score based on management efficiency, profitability, and cash flow metrics, while targeting an aggregate dividend yield higher than the broad index and a beta between 0.5-1.0.
The strategy has some unique features including the proprietary quality scoring model to select stocks, the optimization constraints to manage risk exposures, and the targeted beta range to adjust market sensitivity. The index is reconstituted quarterly, with the fund using a representative sampling approach to track it closely under normal circumstances by investing at least 80% of assets in index components.
One key aspect is that the index provider Northern Trust also serves as the fund’s investment adviser, which could raise potential conflicts of interest. The fund can concentrate investments in particular countries or industries based on index composition.
Strategy Narrative (Prospectus)
The Underlying Index is designed to reflect the performance of a selection of companies that, in aggregate, provide exposure to a high-quality income-oriented universe of long-only international securities issued by non-U.S.-based companies, with an emphasis on long-term capital growth and a targeted overall beta that is generally between 0.5 to 1.0 times that of the Northern Trust International Large Cap Index (the Parent Index), a float-adjusted market-capitalization weighted index of non-US domiciled large- and mid-capitalization companies. Beta represents the market sensitivity, relative to a given market index and time period, and is one measure of volatility. To derive the Underlying Index, NTI, acting in its capacity as the index provider (the Index Provider), begins with all securities in the Parent Index that have an average daily traded value of at least $125,000 in the 90 days prior to a reconstitution, and then removes those securities that rank in the lowest quintile of quality based on a proprietary scoring model, as well as those which do not pay a dividend. The core components of the proprietary quality scoring model are based on quantitative ranking of various metrics obtained from company filings. These scores have three components: (i) management efficiency (e.g., corporate finance activities); (ii) profitability (e.g., reliability and sustainability of financial performance); and (iii) cash flow (e.g., cash flow generation). The Index Provider then uses an optimization process to select and weight eligible securities in order to (a) maximize the overall quality score relative to the Parent Index, (b) attain an aggregate dividend yield in excess of the Parent Index and (c) achieve the desired beta target. The optimization process also includes sector, industry group, region, country, single-security weight and turnover constraints to assist in reducing the Underlying Indexs overall active risk exposure to any one single factor. As of December 31, 2023, there were 196 issues in the Underlying Index. The Underlying Index is reconstituted quarterly. The Fund generally reconstitutes its portfolio in accordance with the Underlying Index. NTI uses a passive or indexing approach to try to achieve the Funds investment objective. Unlike many investment companies, the Fund does not try to beat its Underlying Index and does not seek temporary defensive positions when markets decline or appear overvalued. NTI uses a representative sampling strategy to manage the Fund. Representative sampling is investing in a representative sample of securities that collectively has an investment profile similar to the Underlying Index. The Fund may or may not hold all of the securities that are included in the Underlying Index. The Fund reserves the right to invest in substantially all of the securities in its Underlying Index in approximately the same proportions (i.e., replication) if NTI determines that it is in the best interest of the Fund. Under normal circumstances, the Fund will invest at least 80% of its total assets (exclusive of collateral held from securities lending) in the securities of the Underlying Index and in American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) and Global Depositary Receipts (GDRs) (collectively Depositary Receipts) based on the securities in the Underlying Index. The Fund may also invest up to 20% of its assets in cash and cash equivalents, including shares of money market funds advised by NTI or its affiliates, futures contracts, options on futures contracts and foreign currency contracts, as well as securities not included in the Underlying Index, but which NTI believes will help the Fund track its Underlying Index. The Underlying Index is created and sponsored by NTI, as the Index Provider. NTI also serves as the investment adviser to the Fund. The Index Provider determines the composition and relative weightings of the securities in the Underlying Index and publishes information regarding the market value of the Underlying Index. The Fund may lend securities representing up to one-third of the value of the Funds total assets (including the value of the collateral received). From time to time the Fund may focus its investments (i.e., invest more than 15% of its total assets) in one or more particular countries or geographic regions. As of December 31, 2023, the Fund focused its investments in Japan, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Taiwan and Australia. Industry Concentration Policy. The Fund will concentrate its investments (i.e., hold 25% or more of its total assets) in a particular industry or group of industries to approximately the same extent that the Underlying Index is concentrated.