QDEF
FlexShares Quality Dividend Defensive Index Fund
FlexShares 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 Quality Dividend Defensive Index.
US
EQUITY
Rules-Based
MANAGEMENT STYLE
460.4 M
ASSETS UNDER MGMT
37 bp
EXPENSES
Fund Basics
| Fund sponsor | Northern Trust Investments Inc |
| Category | US |
| Asset class | Equity |
| Website | link... |
| Inception date | Dec 14, 2012 |
| Assets (mns) | $460 |
| Expense ratio | 37 bp |
| Currency | USD |
Sector Breakdown
Fund Structure
| Regulation | Open-Ended Fund |
| Distributions | Quarterly |
| Taxation | 1099 |
| Stock selection | Proprietary |
| Weighting | Multi-Factor |
| Holdings Transparency | Full |
| Derivatives-based | No |
| Options available | Yes |
| Currency hedged | No |
| Fund of funds | No |
Top 10 Holdings
| APPLE INC | 7.9 % |
| NVIDIA CORP | 6.8 % |
| MICROSOFT CORP | 5.8 % |
| META PLATFORMS INC | 3.7 % |
| JOHNSON & JOHNSON | 3.5 % |
| ABBVIE INC | 3.3 % |
| PROCTER & GAMBLE CO/THE | 3.0 % |
| PHILIP MORRIS INTERNATIONAL | 2.2 % |
| INTL BUSINESS MACHINES CORP | 2.0 % |
| MERCK & CO. INC. | 1.9 % |
Constituent Breakdown
| Number of holdings | 128 |
| Herfindahl-Hirschman Index | 255 |
| Wgt avg mkt cap (mns) | $1,074,370 |
| Large cap (>$10bn) | 88.3% |
| Mid cap ($2-10bn) | 11.0% |
| Small cap (<$2bn) | 0.5% |
| Developed mkts. | 99.7% |
| Emerging mkts. | 0.0% |
Country Exposure
 |
UNITED STATES | 105.1 % |
 |
IRELAND | 0.8 % |
 |
PUERTO RICO | 0.6 % |
 |
MONACO | 0.6 % |
Historical Performance
Standardized Performance (as of 09/30/2025)
| YTD | 1 YR | 2 YR | 3 YR | 5 YR | 10 YR | 20 YR | Incep. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price Returns | 13.9% | 11.9% | 21.6% | 20.3% | 12.6% | 9.1% | -- | 9.4% |
| Dividend Yield | 0.3% | 0.3% | 1.4% | 1.9% | 2.1% | 3.1% | -- | 3.0% |
| Total Returns | 14.2% | 12.2% | 23.0% | 22.2% | 14.7% | 12.2% | -- | 12.4% | Ann. Volatility | 16.2% | 14.8% | 12.8% | 13.4% | 14.2% | 16.4% | -- | 15.5% |
Market Correlations
| versus... | Beta | R-squared |
| S&P 500 | 0.85 | 87% |
| MSCI EAFE | 0.55 | 44% |
| MSCI Emg Mkts | 0.32 | 17% |
Liquidity Measures
| Avg. volume (000) | 8 |
| ADV traded (mns) | $1 |
| Turnover | 0.1% |
| Avg. Bid/Ask (% of price) | 0.07% |
Technical Indicators
| Recent close | $79.76 |
| 30d moving avg. | $79.46 |
| Annualized volatility | 12.3% |
| Relative strength (RSI) | 56 |
| Short interest | 0.1% |
Distributions
Assets Under Management (mns)
Money Flows (mns)
Short Interest (as % of shares outstanding)
Long Money Flows (mns)
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Comparable ETFs Based on Overlap
| Ticker | Fund Name | Overlap vs. |
Expenses vs. |
ALTAR Score™ vs. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| QDF | FlexShares Quality Dividend Index Fund | 80.8% | 0 bp | +6.2% |
| QLC | FlexShares US Quality Large Cap Index Fund | 53.4% | -12 bp | +5.3% |
| FLQL | Franklin LibertyQ U.S. Equity ETF | 50.6% | -22 bp | +5.4% |
| FQAL | Fidelity Quality Factor ETF | 48.6% | -22 bp | +5.7% |
| QLV | FlexShares US Quality Low Volatility Index Fund | 47.5% | -15 bp | +5.7% |
| FELC | Fidelity Enhanced Large Cap Core ETF | 47.0% | -19 bp | +5.2% |
| VSLU | Applied Finance Valuation Large Cap ETF | 46.8% | +12 bp | +5.6% |
| FLRG | Fidelity U.S. Multifactor ETF | 46.2% | -22 bp | +6.9% |
| DLN | WisdomTree U.S. LargeCap Dividend Fund | 45.9% | -9 bp | +5.9% |
| FDRR | Fidelity Dividend ETF for Rising Rates | 45.7% | -22 bp | +6.9% |
Risk and Returns: QDEF vs. Comps (1 YR)
Notes: Top 10 overlapping ETFs. Funds with insufficient history not shown. Some funds may overlap. Hover over data point for ticker symbol.
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Results & Estimates
| 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sales per share | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | |
| change (%) | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | |
| Earnings per share | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | |
| change (%) | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | |
| Dividends per share | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | |
| change (%) | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | |
| Book value per share | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | |
| change (%) | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
Return on Equity
Net Margins
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Valuation Metrics
| Fwd Est | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 | |
| Price-to-sales | --x | --x | --x | --x |
| Price-to-earnings | --x | --x | --x | --x |
| Price-to-cash flow | --x | --x | --x | --x |
| Price-to-growth | --x | --x | --x | --x |
| Price-to-book value | --x | --x | --x | --x |
| Yield | --% | --% | --x | --% |
Based on closing prices from 10/24/2025
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Price-to-Earnings
Price-to-Sales
Price-to-Book Value
Price-to-Cash Flow
Price-to-Growth
Dividend Yield
Historical Valuation Trends Sample data. Subscribe for access.
SHOWING:
Price-to-Earnings
Price-to-Earnings
Notes: Based on adjusted historical results for current fund constituents. May differ from results achieved by past fund constituents. Max P/E of 100x.
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ETF Research Center Rating
NEUTRAL
Average appreciation potential. A rating of NEUTRAL is assigned to ETFs with ALTAR Scores in the middle quintile (ranking between 40%-60%) of their category. This indicates that valuations adequately reflect the fundamentals of stocks in these funds.
ALTAR Score™
QDEF
6.1%
Cat. Avg
5.7%
ALTAR Score™ Calculation
Category Overview
There are 995 funds in the US Equity category, with an average ALTAR Score™
of 5.7% and a standard deviation of
2.3%. QDEF's ALTAR Score™ is approximately
0.2 standard deviations
above
the category average. This places QDEF in the 58th percentile among funds in the category.
Sell Side Consensus Rating
Sell-side recommendations on the ETF's individual constituents
QDEFSELL
U/W
HOLD
O/W
BUY
Expense Analysis
| Peer Group | Rules-Based US Equity ETFs |
| # of ETFs | 627 |
| Avg. Expense Ratio | 46.1 bp |
| Std. Deviation | 32.8 bp |
| QDEF (37 bp) Percentile rank | 39 |
Peer Group Expense Ratio Distribution
Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) Comparison
| Expense (bp) (A) |
Avg. Bid/Ask (bp) (B) |
TCO (bp) (A)+(B) |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| QDEF | 37.0 | 7.4 | 44.4 |
| Peer Avg. | 46.1 | 15.6 | 61.7 |
For a detailed cost analysis of this and any other ETF use the TCO Comparison Tool .