Deka Launches European Equity Dividend ETF

Deka, the German exchange traded fund (ETF) provider, has launched a fund that tracks the highest dividend-paying stocks in Europe excluding financials.

The Deka EURO iSTOXX ex Fin Dividend+ UCITS ETF (ELFC) listed today in Germany and has annual fees of 0.3 percent. The underlying index tracks just 50 stocks that are weighted by dividend yield.

The largest holding by far is the Spanish electric utility company Endesa at over 10.5 percent of the fund. Other heavyweights are OPAP, a Greek sports betting firm (3.5 percent), Television Francaise (3.4 percent) and Irish gambling company Paddy Power (3.3 percent).

Historical net performance shows the ETF returned 56.1 percent over three years, versus the index’s 57.1 percent. Over five years performance was 35.2 percent and 36.3 percent respectively.

Deka now has 46 ETFs listed in Europe. The most recent launch was a green-focused fund that tracks European companies which rank highly in terms of their environmental, social and corporate governance. The Deka Oekom Euro Nachhaltigkeit UCITS ETF (ticker ELFB) costs 0.40 percent.

In February, the provider also brought to market the Deka MSCI Europe ex EMU UCITS ETF (ELF5), which replicates an index of around 200 companies from five countries, excluding the European Monetary Union.