Description

The fund is passively managed to provide exposure to 100 large- and midcap dividend-paying stocks from developed markets that are expected to continue to pay and grow their dividends. The fund employs a smart beta investment and rules-based proprietary index methodology, to provide investors with exposure to targeted strategic factors. The starting universe is composed of the 1,000 stocks from developed markets, excluding Canada and the US. Stocks are screened further based on their composite factor score, which is a weighted-average score based on dividend yield (70%), payout ratio (15%), and dividend growth (15%). Size bias is removed by blending the composite score with a size factor. Within each sector and country intersection group, securities are selected based on the size-adjusted composite score. Groups with higher dividend yields are overweighted, while those with lower dividend yields are underweighted. The index is rebalanced annually on the 3rd Friday of February.