iShares Asia/Pacific Dividend ETF

DVYA

Market cap $47.3M

Among APAC equity markets, Australia has a higher beta to oil prices while India, Indonesia and Thailand have lower betas. Domestic political uncertainties have been one main reason for the decoupling trend seen in Indonesia and Thailand.

iShares Asia/Pacific Dividend ETF offers exposure to 50 high-yielding Asia-Pacific stocks, but is heavily concentrated in Australia and Hong Kong, and excludes REITs. While DVYA eventually weights its portfolio based on the indicated dividend yield, prospective stocks are made to clear six different screeners before making the cut. Despite a strong yield above 5.75% and a low P/E, DVYA has underperformed broader Pacific ETFs like IPAC quite significantly.

While the China macro story of ongoing transition is a headwind to the rest of Asia, there is more to the region's economic health than this.

The total nominal GDP of the ten ASEAN nations measured in US dollar terms amounted to USD 3.6 trillion in 2022, more than doubling compared with total GDP of USD 1.6 trillion in 2009. Singapore's GDP growth rate improved to a pace of 2.8% y/y in the fourth quarter of 2023 according to the advance estimate of GDP from the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI).