Insights 
VT 
The Inspire International ETF, WWJD, launched on 30th September 2019, is a smart beta exchange traded fund offering wide exposure to World ETFs. Traditional ETFs are based on market cap weighted indexes, but smart beta ETFs like WWJD offer alternative strategies for potential risk-return performance through options such as equal-weighting or fundamental weighting.
Key Features Of The Fund
Managed by Inspire, WWJD has amassed over $394.49 million in assets. It aims to match the INSPIRE INTERNATIONAL INDEX’s performance, focusing on large-cap foreign and emerging market companies with a minimum Inspire Impact Score of zero. The fund incurs annual operating expenses of 0.66% and offers a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 2.41%.
Delta Elec-nvdr, Genmab A/s, and Siam Cement-nvdr are among its top holdings, which together with others, account for 6.31% of its total assets. Year-to-date, WWJD has gained about 24.92%, with a 12-month increase of roughly 15.28%. It has a beta of 0.90 and standard deviation of 15.32% over three years, including 222 holdings to mitigate specific company risks.
For those not aiming to outperform World ETFs, other options include Vanguard ESG U.S. Stock ETF and iShares ESG Aware MSCI USA ETF, boasting lower expense ratios and larger asset bases. These alternatives track different indexes within the ESG space.
Given the fund’s strong year-to-date performance of nearly 25%, we see potential for volatility compression in the coming weeks. The 12-month return is a more modest 15.28%, suggesting this rapid ascent is slowing down. Traders might consider selling call options to capitalize on potentially elevated premiums, betting that the recent upward momentum will not be sustained at its current pace.
Broader Economic Environment Impact
We must also consider the broader economic environment, which remains uncertain for international equities. Looking back, the persistent strength of the U.S. dollar, with the DXY index frequently trading above 104 through 2024 and 2025, continues to create headwinds for returns on foreign assets. This sustained pressure makes buying protective put options on WWJD a reasonable strategy to hedge against both currency risk and a potential market pullback.
The fund’s high expense ratio of 0.66% presents a significant drag on performance compared to cheaper alternatives. We have seen a multi-year trend, with data from 2024 showing that over 90% of ETF inflows went to products with expense ratios below 0.20%, a pattern that has continued into this year. This makes a pairs trade, going long a low-cost broad international index ETF while shorting WWJD, an attractive proposition for capturing this efficiency gap.
With a beta of 0.90 and a diversified base of 222 holdings, the fund is designed to be less volatile than the broader market. Recent market volatility has been moderate, with the VIX holding steady in the 16-19 range for the past quarter. Therefore, we should not expect sharp, outsized moves from WWJD, making it a less-than-ideal vehicle for long vega strategies seeking explosive gains.
