Why This Dividend ETF Could Outperform in 2012

Based on the aggregated intelligence of 180,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, the iShares Dow Jones International Select Dividend Index Fund (NYSE: IDV ) has earned a respected four-star ranking.

With that in mind, let's take a closer look at iShares Dow Jones International Select Dividend and see what CAPS investors are saying about the ETF right now.

iShares Dow Jones International Select Dividend facts

Inception	June 2007
Total Assets	$681 million
Investment Approach	Seeks results that correspond to the Dow Jones EPAC Select Dividend Index, comprised of 100 of the highest dividend-yielding securities in the Dow Jones Developed Markets ex-U.S. Index, which measures the performance of stocks that trade in developed markets, excluding the United States.
Expense Ratio	0.50%
Dividend Yield	5.2%
3-Month / 1-Year / 3-Year Returns	1.1% / (6.8%) / 20.6%
Top Holdings With High CAPS Rating (4 or 5 stars) and Portfolio Weight	Eni (NYSE: E ) (3.4%) British American Tobacco (AMEX: BTI ) (3.3%) Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE: RDS-A ) (2.6%)
Alternatives	PowerShares International Dividend Achievers (NYSE: PID ) WisdomTree International Dividend ex-Financials (NYSE: DOO )

Sources: Morningstar and Motley Fool CAPS.

On CAPS, 88% of the 26 members who have rated iShares Dow Jones International Select Dividend believe the ETF will outperform the S&P 500 going forward. These bulls include pairajacks2 and All-Star marc64, who is ranked in the top 5% of our community.

Having gotten on board last year, pairajacks2 succinctly summed up the bull case: "Invests in dividend paying stocks, and not constrained to one specific sector or country. Dividend paying stocks are less likely to go belly up when markets are stressed."

iShares Dow Jones International Select Dividend, in particular, sports a dividend yield of 5.2%. That's higher than that of competitors like PowerShares International Dividend Achievers (3.9%) and WisdomTree International Dividend ex-Financials (4.6%).

CAPS All-Star marc64 elaborates on the bull case:

I think dividend paying international issues will weather the challenge. Given the precariousness of the global economy, I am staying away from small caps, which would be great if things were headed up, but instead I'm opting for a blend of dividend paying stocks. ...

[T]his ETF adjusts to pick up the proven high-dividend payers. ... Dividends are a nice way to battle back against a sideways market, which I think is essentially what we will have over the next 5 years. Those few cents add up... and this issue seems to have a little levity under the bad conditions.

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Fool contributor Brian Pacampara owns no position in any of the companies mentioned. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days.

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