ETF Research Center

FlexShares International Quality Dividend Defensive Index Fund is an exchange-traded fund incorporated in the USA. The Fund seeks to track the performance of the Northern Trust International Quality Dividend Defensive Index.

FUND BASICS
Category	International Equities
Fund Sponsor	Northern Trust Investments Inc
Website	www.flexshares.com
Inception date	Apr 16, 2013
Assets (mns)	$79
Currency	USD
Expense ratio	47 bp
Distributions	Quarterly

FUND STRUCTURE
Regulation	Open-Ended Fund
Custodian
Weighting	Multi-Factor
Index replication	Optimized
Uses derivatives	No
Options available	No

SECTOR BREAKDOWN

CONSTITUENT BREAKDOWN
No. of constituents	193
Wgt avg mkt cap (mns)	$50,974
Large cap (>$10bn)	60.5%
Mid cap ($2-10bn)	35.8%
Small cap (<$2bn)	3.7%
Developed mkts	71.7%
Emerging mkts	28.4%

TOP TEN HOLDINGS
Total	16.1 %
GLAXOSMITHKLINE PLC	2.6 %
NESTLE SA-REG	2.3 %
ROYAL BANK OF CANADA	2.1 %
BP PLC	1.5 %
TOTAL SA	1.4 %
ENEL SPA	1.4 %
ROCHE HOLDING AG-GENUSSCHEIN	1.4 %
KDDI CORPORATION	1.2 %
COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRAL	1.1 %
NOVATEK MICROELECTRONICS LTD	1.1 %

TOP COUNTRY EXPOSURE
	JAPAN	14.0 %
	BRITAIN	13.3 %
	AUSTRALIA	7.3 %
	SWITZERLAND	5.5 %
	TAIWAN	4.9 %
	CANADA	4.8 %
	FRANCE	4.6 %
	RUSSIA	4.3 %
	CHINA	4.3 %
	FINLAND	4.0 %

HISTORICAL PERFORMANCE info

	Custom date range	Compare to
	thru

Standardized Annual Returns (thru November 30)
Year-to-date	1 year	5 years	10 years	Since Incep.
11.9%	7.2%	1.2%	--	1.8%

Market Correlations
versus...	Beta	R-squared
S&P500	0.63	53%
MSCI EAFE	0.88	85%
MSCI Emg. Mkts.	0.69	83%

Technical Indicators
Recent close	$21.97
30d moving avg.	$21.98
Annualized volatility	10.5%
Short interest (ETF)	0.0%
Relative strength (RSI)	53

Liquidity measures
Avg. volume (thou.)	7
Turnover	0.2%
Bid/Ask (% of price)	0.19%
ADV underlying (mns)	$12,537

Distributions

FINDING ALTERNATIVE FUNDS

Below is a list of 20 potential alternatives to the FlexShares Int'l Quality Dividend Defensive ETF based on the alternatives' overlap in portfolio holdings with IQDE. Consider funds with lower expense ratios and/or higher ALTAR Score™ ratings as possible alternatives.

Benchmark ticker:

IQDE

Expense:

47 bp

ALTAR Score™:

9.6%

ALTERNATIVE ETFs BASED ON OVERLAP WITH IQDE
Ticker	Fund Name	Overlap¹ vs IQDE (%)	Expense ratio (bp)	Savings vs IQDE (bp)	ALTAR Score™ (%)	ALTAR vs IQDE (%)
IQDF	FlexShares Int'l Quality Dividend	67.3	47	0	9.5	-0.2
IQDY	FlexShares Int'l Quality Dividend Dynamic	45.7	47	0	8.9	-0.7
QLVD	FlexShares Developed Mkts ex-US Quality Low Volatility	29.0	32	15	6.6	-3.0
DOL	WisdomTree Int'l Large Cap Dividend	28.7	48	-1	7.7	-1.9
DTH	WisdomTree DEFA Equity Income	27.7	58	-11	8.5	-1.1
IDY	Pacific Global International Equity Income	26.0	39	8	8.2	-1.4
FDEV	Fidelity Targeted International Factor	25.8	39	8	6.9	-2.8
EFV	iShares MSCI EAFE Value	25.7	38	9	9.0	-0.7
DDWM	WisdomTree Dynamic Currency Hedged Int'l Equity	25.4	35	12	7.9	-1.8
DWM	WisdomTree DEFA Fund	25.2	48	-1	7.6	-2.0
VYMI	Vanguard Int'l High Dividend Yield	24.2	32	15	9.3	-0.3
OEUR	O'Shares FTSE Europe Quality Dividend	23.9	48	-1	6.4	-3.3
HDAW	Xtrackers MSCI All World ex US High Div Yield	22.3	20	27	10.0	+0.4
RFDI	First Trust Riverfront Dynamic Developed Int'l	22.2	83	-36	6.6	-3.1
LVIN	Hartford Multifactor Low Volatility Int'l Equity	22.1	29	18	9.1	-0.5
IDV	iShares DJ Int'l Select Dividend	22.0	49	-2	8.4	-1.2
PXF	Invesco FTSE-RAFI Developed ex-US	21.7	45	2	8.1	-1.5
DOO	WisdomTree Int'l Dividend Ex-Financials	21.6	58	-11	8.0	-1.6
QEFA	SPDR MSCI EAFE Quality Mix	21.5	30	17	6.6	-3.1
FNDF	Schwab Fundamental Intl Large Cap	21.3	25	22	7.5	-2.2

¹Overlap is the percentage of holdings by weight that are identical. For example, if Fund A has a 2% position in Apple, Inc. (AAPL) and Fund B has a 5% position, their overlapping position in AAPL is 2%.

Content on this tab for subscribers only**

RESULTS & ESTIMATES

	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019E	2020E
Sales per share	**	**	**	**	**	**	**
Earnings per share	**	**	**	**	**	**	**
Dividends per share	**	**	**	**	**	**	**
Book value per share	**	**	**	**	**	**	**

Sales per share growth		**%	**%	**%	**%	**%	**%
EPS growth		**%	**%	**%	**%	**%	**%

Sales per share growth		**%	**%	**%	**%	**%	**%
EPS growth		**%	**%	**%	**%	**%	**%

OTHER FUNDAMENTAL METRICS

Long term EPS growth est.	**%		Debt-to-equity	**x
Asset turnover	**%		Assets-to-equity	**x

Return on equity

Revision activity*

*Six months ago = 100

Net margins

Compound annual growth rates

Content on this tab for subscribers only

VALUATION METRICS

	2018	2019E	2020E
Price-to-sales	**	**	**
Price-to-earnings	**	**	**
Price-to-cash flow	**	**	**
Price-to-growth	**	**	**
Price-to-book value	**	**	**
Yield	**	**	**

Historical valuation trends

Forward multiple:	FlexShares Int'l Quality Dividend Defensive
Relative to:	S&P500	MSCI EAFE	MSCI Emg. Mkts.	Other ETF:

SPECULATIVE

Deeply undervalued but risky. A rating of SPECULATIVE is assigned to ETFs with ALTAR Scores in the top quintile (the top 20%) of their category, indicating exceptional appreciation potential. However, often these are narrowly-focused funds or in industries with structural issues, which may also make them very risky. Nonetheless they may still be useful as part of a well-diversified portfolio.

ALTAR Score™

Calculation of ALTAR Score™
Avg. Return on Equity	13.9	%
Divided by: Fwd. P/BV	1.4	x
Less: Expense ratio	47	bp
Equals: ALTAR Score	9.6	%

More information on ALTAR Score™

MODERN PORTFOLIO THEORY info

CONSENSUS RECOMMENDATIONS: FUND CONSTITUENTS

COMPOSITE RATING	1.69	CATEGORY AVERAGE	1.63

The composite rating is a weighted average of analysts' consensus recommendations for individual ETF constituents, based on the following scale: BUY = 1; OVERWEIGHT = 1.5, HOLD = 2; UNDERWEIGHT = 2.5; and SELL = 3. Readers are cautioned that because analyst ratings tend to be inflated, the composite score may be more useful as a relative measure of sentiment between funds rather than as a stand-alone recommendation.