Looking inside a dividend ETF for its cheaper, higher-yielding holdings
Investment
I take the 100 holdings of VanEck’s ex-US Dividend Leaders ETF as a ready-made shortlist, then overlay my own check on yield and price to see which of them stand out today.
This is the first analysis post on this blog. For it I have picked a fund I know well, VanEck’s ex-US Dividend Leaders ETF. I trust the methodology behind it, so I want to look further into what it actually holds.
I have two questions. First, what sector preferences does the fund show? In other words, where does a rules-based search for high, sustainable dividends end up putting its money? Second, do any of its holdings look like good value today, and worth investigating further? To answer that, I compare each holding’s dividend yield and price with the rest of the fund and pick out the ones that pay more income for a lower price.
Why I start from this ETF
The fund is the VanEck Morningstar Developed Markets ex-US Dividend Leaders UCITS ETF. It trades in sterling on the London Stock Exchange under the ticker TDUK (the dollar line is TDVX). It launched in April 2026, charges 0.38% a year, and reinvests its dividends instead of paying them out.
I use it as my starting point because I believe in the methodology of the index it tracks, the Morningstar Developed Markets ex-US Large Cap Dividend Leaders Screened Select Index. To get in, a company has to pass every one of these tests:
- Large and developed. It must be a large company from a developed market outside the United States. Property trusts (REITs) are excluded.
- A dividend that has not gone backwards. The dividend paid over the last 12 months must be at least as large as the one paid five years earlier.
- A dividend it can afford. The dividend must be less than 75% of the earnings analysts expect, so there is room to keep paying it.
- Basic conduct screens. Companies with severe ESG risk or controversies are removed, along with tobacco producers, controversial weapons makers and heavy thermal coal businesses.
From the survivors, the index takes the 100 highest yielding and reviews the list twice a year, in June and December.
That gives me 100 companies that have each been checked for a dividend track record and for dividend cover. I did not have to trawl through the world’s stock markets to find them.
What the index does not do is tell me which of the 100 look good value today. It weights each holding by the total cash it pays out in dividends, so the biggest payers get the biggest weights, whether or not their shares are cheap. That is the gap my own analysis fills.
My overlay
I took the fund’s full list of holdings as published by VanEck for 9 October 2026 and did three things.
- Added a yield and a price tag to each holding. For every company I looked up two numbers. The trailing dividend yield is the dividends paid per share over the last 12 months, divided by the share price. The trailing P/E (price-to-earnings ratio) is the share price divided by the last 12 months of earnings per share. A lower P/E means you pay less for each unit of profit.
- Found the middle of the pack. The median holding yields 4.21% and trades on 13.5 times earnings. I use the median, not the average, so that a handful of extreme figures do not move the bar.
- Highlighted the holdings that beat the median on both counts. A company passes if its yield is above the median and its P/E is below it. In other words: more income, for a lower price, than the typical holding in the same fund.
What it found
Taken one test at a time, 50 holdings yield more than the median and 49 trade on a lower P/E. 29 companies pass both tests. Together they make up 28.1% of the fund.
As a group, those 29 yield 5.48% on a P/E of 9.9x. The fund as a whole yields 4.38% on a P/E of 13.7x.
Here they are, highest yield first.
| Holding | What it does | Sector | Country | Yield | P/E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Svenska Handelsbanken | Branch-based bank in Sweden, Norway and the UK. | Financials | Sweden | 11.62% | 12.6x |
| WH Group | World’s largest pork producer: Shuanghui in China and Smithfield in the US. | Consumer Staples | Cayman Islands | 9.27% | 7.1x |
| Mercedes-Benz Group | Maker of Mercedes-Benz premium cars and vans. | Consumer Discretionary | Germany | 8.85% | 7.5x |
| BMW | Maker of BMW, Mini and Rolls-Royce cars and BMW motorcycles. | Consumer Discretionary | Germany | 8.27% | 5.1x |
| Volkswagen (pref) | Carmaker: Volkswagen, Audi, Skoda, SEAT and a majority stake in Porsche. | Consumer Discretionary | Germany | 7.75% | 6.5x |
| Crédit Agricole | French retail banking, insurance and asset management (majority owner of Amundi). | Financials | France | 6.99% | 8.0x |
| Tele2 | Mobile and broadband operator in Sweden and the Baltic states. | Communication Services | Sweden | 6.74% | 10.8x |
| Danske Bank | Denmark’s largest bank: retail, business and wealth across the Nordics. | Financials | Denmark | 6.62% | 12.1x |
| Intesa Sanpaolo | Italy’s largest bank: retail, corporate, insurance and wealth management. | Financials | Italy | 6.28% | 10.8x |
| DNB Bank | Norway’s largest bank: retail, corporate, shipping and energy lending. | Financials | Norway | 5.96% | 10.8x |
| Nordea Bank | Largest Nordic bank: retail, business and wealth across Finland, Sweden, Denmark and Norway. | Financials | Finland | 5.75% | 12.4x |
| BNP Paribas | Eurozone’s largest bank: retail, corporate and investment banking. | Financials | France | 5.72% | 7.7x |
| AXA | Insurer: property and casualty, life, health and asset management. | Financials | France | 5.60% | 11.4x |
| Ageas | Insurer in Belgium, the UK and Portugal, with joint ventures across Asia. | Financials | Belgium | 5.26% | 7.4x |
| Poste Italiane | Italy’s post office: mail and parcels, savings, payments and life insurance. | Financials | Italy | 5.22% | 13.0x |
| Yara International | Nitrogen fertiliser producer with global distribution. | Materials | Norway | 5.19% | 7.1x |
| NN Group | Life insurance, pensions and banking in the Netherlands, with units in Europe and Japan. | Financials | Netherlands | 5.15% | 10.9x |
| NatWest Group | UK retail and commercial bank; brands include NatWest, Royal Bank of Scotland and Coutts. | Financials | United Kingdom | 5.06% | 8.6x |
| BPER Banca | Italian retail and commercial bank, concentrated in the north and centre. | Financials | Italy | 4.89% | 11.9x |
| Hannover Rück | Reinsurer for property, casualty, life and health; majority-owned by Talanx. | Financials | Germany | 4.75% | 11.6x |
| Vinci | Construction and concessions: motorways, airports and energy contracting. | Industrials | France | 4.67% | 11.9x |
| TotalEnergies | Integrated energy: oil, gas and LNG, refining, and a growing power business. | Energy | France | 4.59% | 11.2x |
| Novo Nordisk | Pharmaceuticals specialising in diabetes and obesity treatments. | Health Care | Denmark | 4.59% | 9.7x |
| Munich Re | One of the world’s largest reinsurers; also owns primary insurer ERGO. | Financials | Germany | 4.53% | 9.7x |
| Swiss Re | Reinsurer covering property, casualty, life and health risks worldwide. | Financials | Switzerland | 4.51% | 10.8x |
| ING Groep | Retail and wholesale bank in the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany, strong in digital banking. | Financials | Netherlands | 4.42% | 10.1x |
| Sekisui House | Japan’s largest housebuilder, also active in the US and Australia. | Consumer Discretionary | Japan | 4.36% | 8.6x |
| QBE Insurance | Commercial insurer and reinsurer across Australia, North America and Europe. | Financials | Australia | 4.34% | 12.3x |
| Eni | Integrated energy: oil and gas production, LNG, refining, power and biofuels. | Energy | Italy | 4.29% | 13.1x |
How the holdings skew by sector
Before reading too much into that list, it helps to see what the fund itself is made of. Grouping all 100 holdings by sector shows how lopsided it is, and where the passes come from.
| Sector | Weight | Holdings | Pass the screen |
|---|---|---|---|
| Financials | 41.2% | 47 | 18 |
| Energy | 17.2% | 9 | 2 |
| Health Care | 11.3% | 5 | 1 |
| Consumer Staples | 10.1% | 8 | 1 |
| Utilities | 9.6% | 10 | 0 |
| Consumer Discretionary | 3.6% | 7 | 4 |
| Industrials | 3.3% | 6 | 1 |
| Communication Services | 2.2% | 4 | 1 |
| Materials | 0.7% | 2 | 1 |
| Information Technology | 0.5% | 1 | 0 |
| Real Estate | 0.1% | 1 | 0 |
| All holdings | 99.8% | 100 | 29 |
Financials are 41.2% of the fund by weight and nearly half of its holdings by number, so it is no surprise that they supply 18 of the 29 passes. Add Energy and the two sectors together are well over half the fund. That is typical of a high-dividend index: banks, insurers and oil companies are where the big payouts are. The index does cap any one sector at 40% at its twice-yearly review, but weights drift in between.
The table also shows where the screen finds nothing. Utilities are a tenth of the fund and none of the ten passes.
What stands out
- It is mostly banks and insurers. 18 of the 29 are financials. European banks in particular still trade on low multiples while paying out generously.
- All three German carmakers pass. Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Volkswagen have yields near 8% on single-digit P/Es. That is the market saying it doubts last year’s profits and dividends will be repeated, so treat those with care.
- No utilities pass. Eight of the ten in the fund sit on above-median P/Es, and the two that do not (E.ON and CK Infrastructure) yield less than the median.
- The fund’s giants mostly miss. Of the ten largest holdings, only TotalEnergies passes. Shell, Nestlé, Novartis, HSBC and the rest fall short on yield, on P/E, or on both.
The whole list
For completeness, here are all 100 holdings in order of their weight in the fund. The shaded rows with names in bold are the 29 that pass.
| # | Holding | Ticker | Sector | Country | Weight | Trailing yield | Trailing P/E | Forward P/E | Payout |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Shell | SHEL LN | Energy | United Kingdom | 5.12% | 3.04% | 11.1x | 8.5x | 32% |
| 2 | Nestlé | NESN SW | Consumer Staples | Switzerland | 4.45% | 4.08% | 26.3x | 16.3x | 107% |
| 3 | Novartis | NOVN SW | Health Care | Switzerland | 4.43% | 3.10% | 22.3x | 15.1x | 71% |
| 4 | TotalEnergies | TTE FP | Energy | France | 4.33% | 4.59% | 11.2x | 8.0x | 50% |
| 5 | HSBC Holdings | HSBA LN | Financials | United Kingdom | 3.85% | 3.98% | 14.9x | 10.0x | 60% |
| 6 | BP | BP/ LN | Energy | United Kingdom | 2.93% | 4.36% | 22.5x | 7.4x | 94% |
| 7 | Unilever | ULVR LN | Consumer Staples | United Kingdom | 2.80% | 3.69% | 21.4x | 16.6x | 46% |
| 8 | Allianz | ALV GR | Financials | Germany | 2.68% | 4.10% | 13.8x | 13.2x | 55% |
| 9 | Iberdrola | IBE SM | Utilities | Spain | 2.55% | 3.21% | 25.7x | 19.8x | 16% |
| 10 | Sanofi | SAN FP | Health Care | France | 2.51% | 5.77% | 21.8x | 8.0x | 124% |
| 11 | Novo Nordisk | NOVOB DC | Health Care | Denmark | 2.51% | 4.59% | 9.7x | 11.7x | 45% |
| 12 | Intesa Sanpaolo | ISP IM | Financials | Italy | 2.28% | 6.28% | 10.8x | 9.6x | 68% |
| 13 | BBVA | BBVA SM | Financials | Spain | 2.23% | 3.96% | 12.3x | 10.7x | 39% |
| 14 | Enel | ENEL IM | Utilities | Italy | 1.96% | 5.53% | 21.2x | 12.0x | 135% |
| 15 | BNP Paribas | BNP FP | Financials | France | 1.90% | 5.72% | 7.7x | 7.1x | 67% |
| 16 | UniCredit | UCG IM | Financials | Italy | 1.82% | 4.14% | 11.1x | 9.9x | 49% |
| 17 | National Grid | NG/ LN | Utilities | United Kingdom | 1.58% | 4.23% | 17.6x | 12.7x | 50% |
| 18 | AXA | CS FP | Financials | France | 1.50% | 5.60% | 11.4x | 9.7x | 52% |
| 19 | Bank of Nova Scotia | BNS CN | Financials | Canada | 1.46% | 3.63% | 16.4x | 13.5x | 60% |
| 20 | CSL | CSL AU | Health Care | Australia | 1.41% | 2.26% | n/a | 20.3x | – |
| 21 | Munich Re | MUV2 GR | Financials | Germany | 1.34% | 4.53% | 9.7x | 11.6x | 44% |
| 22 | ING Groep | INGA NA | Financials | Netherlands | 1.31% | 4.42% | 10.1x | 11.1x | 44% |
| 23 | Eni | ENI IM | Energy | Italy | 1.25% | 4.29% | 13.1x | 9.9x | 66% |
| 24 | Engie | ENGI FP | Utilities | France | 1.25% | 5.75% | 13.8x | 11.0x | 104% |
| 25 | NatWest Group | NWG LN | Financials | United Kingdom | 1.25% | 5.06% | 8.6x | 8.0x | 46% |
| 26 | ANZ Group | ANZ AU | Financials | Australia | 1.24% | 4.47% | 18.9x | 14.6x | 77% |
| 27 | National Australia Bank | NAB AU | Financials | Australia | 1.23% | 4.52% | 19.3x | 16.0x | – |
| 28 | Vinci | DG FP | Industrials | France | 1.21% | 4.67% | 11.9x | 11.2x | 55% |
| 29 | Nordea Bank | NDA SS | Financials | Finland | 1.21% | 5.75% | 12.4x | 12.5x | 69% |
| 30 | Woodside Energy | WDS AU | Energy | Australia | 1.19% | 4.84% | 13.9x | 12.7x | 69% |
| 31 | Westpac Banking | WBC AU | Financials | Australia | 1.16% | 4.44% | 16.7x | 16.0x | 75% |
| 32 | DHL | DHL GR | Industrials | Germany | 1.11% | 3.40% | 17.2x | 15.4x | 57% |
| 33 | Mercedes-Benz Group | MBG GR | Consumer Discretionary | Germany | 1.09% | 8.85% | 7.5x | 6.5x | 66% |
| 34 | Reckitt Benckiser | RKT LN | Consumer Staples | United Kingdom | 1.06% | 4.14% | 11.7x | 15.0x | 102% |
| 35 | Tokio Marine Holdings | 8766 JP | Financials | Japan | 0.98% | 3.11% | 29.0x | 16.9x | – |
| 36 | SoftBank Corp | 9434 JP | Communication Services | Japan | 0.89% | 3.64% | 21.5x | 20.4x | 76% |
| 37 | OCBC | OCBC SP | Financials | Singapore | 0.88% | 3.79% | 16.6x | 16.2x | 58% |
| 38 | Swiss Re | SREN SW | Financials | Switzerland | 0.88% | 4.51% | 10.8x | 10.7x | 47% |
| 39 | Repsol | REP SM | Energy | Spain | 0.86% | 3.67% | 9.6x | 6.7x | 35% |
| 40 | Manulife Financial | MFC CN | Financials | Canada | 0.85% | 3.22% | 16.3x | 12.5x | 51% |
| 41 | Equinor | EQNR NO | Energy | Norway | 0.77% | 3.47% | 11.6x | 9.8x | 40% |
| 42 | Swedbank | SWEDA SS | Financials | Sweden | 0.76% | 5.10% | 14.6x | 13.1x | 107% |
| 43 | Tesco | TSCO LN | Consumer Staples | United Kingdom | 0.74% | 2.93% | 17.1x | 15.2x | 49% |
| 44 | E.ON | EOAN GR | Utilities | Germany | 0.69% | 3.34% | 13.3x | 14.6x | 44% |
| 45 | CaixaBank | CABK SM | Financials | Spain | 0.68% | 4.22% | 14.1x | 11.5x | 49% |
| 46 | Aviva | AV/ LN | Financials | United Kingdom | 0.59% | 5.80% | 37.3x | 10.4x | 201% |
| 47 | Generali | G IM | Financials | Italy | 0.58% | 3.96% | 14.1x | 12.3x | 60% |
| 48 | United Overseas Bank | UOB SP | Financials | Singapore | 0.57% | 3.91% | 14.0x | 11.9x | 56% |
| 49 | Volkswagen (pref) | VOW3 GR | Consumer Discretionary | Germany | 0.56% | 7.75% | 6.5x | 2.5x | 57% |
| 50 | Danske Bank | DANSKE DC | Financials | Denmark | 0.56% | 6.62% | 12.1x | 11.1x | 99% |
| 51 | Michelin | ML FP | Consumer Discretionary | France | 0.56% | 4.13% | 14.8x | 11.3x | 59% |
| 52 | Publicis Groupe | PUB FP | Communication Services | France | 0.55% | 3.86% | 15.1x | 11.9x | 56% |
| 53 | Ahold Delhaize | AD NA | Consumer Staples | Netherlands | 0.55% | 3.84% | 12.8x | 11.4x | 49% |
| 54 | NTT | 9432 JP | Communication Services | Japan | 0.54% | 3.13% | 13.4x | 13.2x | 41% |
| 55 | Nutrien | NTR CN | Materials | Canada | 0.54% | 3.13% | 13.7x | 13.0x | 44% |
| 56 | Sun Life Financial | SLF CN | Financials | Canada | 0.53% | 3.51% | 18.5x | 13.2x | 63% |
| 57 | KBC Group | KBC BB | Financials | Belgium | 0.52% | 4.19% | 13.5x | 11.4x | 59% |
| 58 | Canon | 7751 JP | Information Technology | Japan | 0.50% | 3.40% | 11.9x | 13.9x | 41% |
| 59 | BMW | BMW GR | Consumer Discretionary | Germany | 0.50% | 8.27% | 5.1x | 7.5x | 42% |
| 60 | Veolia Environnement | VIE FP | Utilities | France | 0.49% | 4.83% | 18.0x | 12.4x | 98% |
| 61 | SEB | SEBA SS | Financials | Sweden | 0.47% | 4.84% | 14.5x | 12.9x | 69% |
| 62 | DNB Bank | DNB NO | Financials | Norway | 0.47% | 5.96% | 10.8x | 10.9x | 66% |
| 63 | Crédit Agricole | ACA FP | Financials | France | 0.46% | 6.99% | 8.0x | 6.8x | 51% |
| 64 | Dai-ichi Life | 8750 JP | Financials | Japan | 0.46% | 4.04% | 11.7x | 11.9x | – |
| 65 | Astellas Pharma | 4503 JP | Health Care | Japan | 0.45% | 3.57% | 11.1x | 10.7x | 38% |
| 66 | Santos | STO AU | Energy | Australia | 0.43% | 3.75% | 26.5x | 11.7x | 105% |
| 67 | BPER Banca | BPE IM | Financials | Italy | 0.43% | 4.89% | 11.9x | 10.7x | 62% |
| 68 | QBE Insurance | QBE AU | Financials | Australia | 0.43% | 4.34% | 12.3x | 12.9x | 51% |
| 69 | Svenska Handelsbanken | SHBA SS | Financials | Sweden | 0.41% | 11.62% | 12.6x | 12.9x | 147% |
| 70 | NN Group | NN NA | Financials | Netherlands | 0.40% | 5.15% | 10.9x | 9.1x | 61% |
| 71 | Restaurant Brands Intl | QSR CN | Consumer Discretionary | Canada | 0.40% | 3.54% | 19.5x | 13.0x | 90% |
| 72 | Nippon Yusen | 9101 JP | Industrials | Japan | 0.38% | 3.26% | 13.3x | 7.3x | – |
| 73 | Nomura Holdings | 8604 JP | Financials | Japan | 0.37% | 3.52% | 11.2x | 10.7x | – |
| 74 | EDP | EDP PL | Utilities | Portugal | 0.36% | 4.30% | 16.6x | 15.5x | 72% |
| 75 | Sumitomo Mitsui Trust | 8309 JP | Financials | Japan | 0.34% | 2.82% | 13.1x | 13.7x | – |
| 76 | Sampo | SAMPO FH | Financials | Finland | 0.33% | 4.15% | 13.7x | 15.2x | 56% |
| 77 | Hannover Rück | HNR1 GR | Financials | Germany | 0.32% | 4.75% | 11.6x | 11.3x | 46% |
| 78 | Snam | SRG IM | Utilities | Italy | 0.31% | 5.39% | 16.9x | 13.0x | 89% |
| 79 | Terna | TRN IM | Utilities | Italy | 0.30% | 4.37% | 17.2x | 16.3x | 76% |
| 80 | OMV | OMV AV | Energy | Austria | 0.29% | 6.20% | 15.8x | 8.7x | 56% |
| 81 | Sekisui House | 1928 JP | Consumer Discretionary | Japan | 0.29% | 4.36% | 8.6x | 9.6x | 37% |
| 82 | Poste Italiane | PST IM | Financials | Italy | 0.29% | 5.22% | 13.0x | 12.5x | 67% |
| 83 | Mitsui O.S.K. Lines | 9104 JP | Industrials | Japan | 0.28% | 2.81% | 11.3x | 10.2x | – |
| 84 | Ageas | AGS BB | Financials | Belgium | 0.28% | 5.26% | 7.4x | 7.8x | 41% |
| 85 | WH Group | 288 HK | Consumer Staples | Cayman Islands | 0.23% | 9.27% | 7.1x | 7.2x | 99% |
| 86 | Tele2 | TEL2B SS | Communication Services | Sweden | 0.22% | 6.74% | 10.8x | 23.0x | 72% |
| 87 | Daiwa Securities | 8601 JP | Financials | Japan | 0.22% | 4.03% | 12.2x | 12.2x | – |
| 88 | Subaru | 7270 JP | Consumer Discretionary | Japan | 0.21% | 4.97% | 20.9x | 7.8x | 98% |
| 89 | BAWAG Group | BG AV | Financials | Austria | 0.19% | 3.76% | 14.8x | 11.8x | 56% |
| 90 | Keppel | KEP SP | Industrials | Singapore | 0.19% | 3.23% | 23.0x | 19.7x | 115% |
| 91 | Insurance Australia Group | IAG AU | Financials | Australia | 0.18% | 3.83% | 17.8x | 17.5x | 68% |
| 92 | Great-West Lifeco | GWO CN | Financials | Canada | 0.17% | 3.03% | 18.2x | 14.6x | 54% |
| 93 | Yara International | YAR NO | Materials | Norway | 0.16% | 5.19% | 7.1x | 7.7x | 40% |
| 94 | Orkla | ORK NO | Consumer Staples | Norway | 0.15% | 6.46% | 14.2x | 13.8x | 86% |
| 95 | MTR Corp | 66 HK | Industrials | Hong Kong | 0.14% | 4.13% | 8.5x | 13.3x | 39% |
| 96 | CK Infrastructure | 1038 HK | Utilities | Bermuda | 0.12% | 3.95% | 6.6x | 9.9x | 28% |
| 97 | Wilmar International | WIL SP | Consumer Staples | Singapore | 0.11% | 3.94% | 12.0x | 11.3x | 48% |
| 98 | Swire Pacific | 19 HK | Real Estate | Hong Kong | 0.10% | 3.80% | 15.5x | 10.1x | 57% |
| 99 | Mitsubishi HC Capital | 8593 JP | Financials | Japan | 0.08% | 3.93% | 13.6x | 10.8x | – |
| 100 | Gjensidige Forsikring | GJF NO | Financials | Norway | 0.07% | 5.84% | 19.7x | 14.2x | 110% |
Payout is the dividend as a percentage of trailing earnings. Anything over 100% means the company paid out more than it earned in the last 12 months. Forward P/E uses analysts’ forecast earnings and is shown for context only; it plays no part in the screen.
What this is, and what it is not
This is a relative comparison inside one fund on one date. It is not a buy list, and it is not investment advice.
- Cheap can be cheap for a reason. A high yield with a low P/E sometimes means the market expects earnings or the dividend to fall. The carmakers are the obvious example.
- Both measures look backwards. They use the last 12 months of dividends and earnings, which may not be repeated.
- One-off payments flatter some yields. Svenska Handelsbanken tops the table at 11.6%, but its payout was 147% of earnings and may include a special dividend.
- A different day gives a different answer. A few holdings sit very close to the median, and a small move in price would move them in or out.
The next step for any name on the list is the real work: reading the accounts and deciding whether the dividend is safe.
Data notes
- Holdings and weights are from VanEck’s published holdings file for 9 October 2026.
- Yields and P/E ratios are from stockanalysis.com, restated at each company’s 9 October share price so that all 100 are measured on the same day.
- Sector weights are the sum of each holding’s weight in the fund and exclude a small cash balance.
- Sector labels follow the GICS scheme and were assigned by hand, as was the country of incorporation.
- CSL made a loss over the last 12 months, so it has no trailing P/E and cannot pass.
- Fund-level figures are weighted by each holding’s share of the fund. The fund’s P/E is a weighted harmonic mean and excludes CSL.
Sources: VanEck fund page · Morningstar index rulebook · stockanalysis.com