“The recently launched ETF is WisdomTree International Hedged Equity Fund (HEDJ). The underlying holdings are other ETFs managed by WisdomTree (WSDT), so it’s structured as a so-called fund of funds Read more…

ETF BASIC NEWS, NYSE:DEB, NYSE:DND, NYSE:DWM, NYSE:DXJ, NYSE:HEDJ

The WisdomTree Real Return Fund (RRF) will seek to provide investors with total returns that exceeds the rate of inflation over long-term investment horizons. The Fund’s investment objective is Read more…

RRF

WisdomTree is planning an ETF based on the “S-Network Fixed Income Closed-End Funds Index.” There is no symbos included in the prospectus at this time. See the overview of this proposed fund Read more…

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WisdomTree announced today that WisdomTree Trust declared distributions for the following WisdomTree ETFs. Rates are listed below: Read more…

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NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)–WisdomTree (Pink Sheets: WSDT), a leading ETF sponsor and index developer, and The Dreyfus Corporation, part of BNY Mellon Asset Management, announced today the listing of the WisdomTree Dreyfus Emerging Currency Fund (CEW) on the NYSE Arca with an expense ratio of 0.55%.

Bruce Lavine, WisdomTree President & COO commented, “Our new Emerging Currency fund fills an important void in the ETF landscape by giving investors the first currency basket product delivered in the 1940 Act fund structure. CEW should be attractive to investors interested in diversifying outside the U.S. Dollar or accessing a less correlated asset class.

“The ETF provides investors exposure to both money market rates across 11 Emerging Market countries, as well as movements in these currencies relative to the U.S. Dollar. Our clients asked us for a basket strategy to complement our individual country currency income funds and we are happy to deliver that today.”

Constituent currencies at launch: Mexican Peso, Brazilian Real, Chilean Peso, South African Rand, Polish Zloty, Israeli Shekel, Turkish New Lira, Chinese Yuan, South Korean Won, Taiwanese Dollar, and Indian Rupee.

Although the Fund invests in very short-term, investment grade instruments, the Fund is not a “money market” fund and it is not the objective of the Fund to maintain a constant share price.

There are risks associated with investing including possible loss of principal. In addition to the normal risks of investing, foreign investing involves special risks, such as risk of loss from currency fluctuation or political or economic uncertainty. The fund focuses its investments in specific regions or countries, thereby increasing the impact of events and developments associated with the region or country which can adversely affect performance. Investments in emerging markets are generally less liquid and less efficient than developed markets. Investments in currency involve additional special risks, such as credit risk, interest rate fluctuations, derivative investment risk and the effect of varied economic conditions. As the fund can have a high concentration in some issuers the fund can be adversely impacted by changes affecting issuers. Unlike typical exchange-traded funds, there are no indexes that the fund attempts to track or replicate. Thus, the ability of the fund to achieve its objectives will depend on the effectiveness of the portfolio manager. Please read the fund’s prospectus for specific details regarding the fund’s risk profile.

Investors should consider the objectives, risks, charges and expenses of the Funds carefully before investing. A prospectus containing this and other information is available at www.wisdomtree.com. Please read the prospectus carefully before investing.

Full Story: http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20090506005682&newsLang=en

NYSE:CEW

WisdomTree (Pink Sheets: WSDT), an industry leading index developer and ETF sponsor, today announced that it plans to release its first quarter results on April 29, 2009 after the market closes. A conference call to discuss the firm’s results will be held on Thursday, April 30, 2009 at 9:00 a.m. ET.

Teleconference and Webcast Details

The call and accompanying presentation will be accessible as a webcast on the Investor Relations section of WisdomTree’s web site at www.wisdomtree.com. A replay will be available on our web site shortly after the call.

Those wishing to listen to the live conference via telephone should dial-in at least 10 minutes before the call begins at the following telephone numbers:

Full Story: http://news.moneycentral.msn.com/provider/providerarticle.aspx?feed=BW&date=20090423&id=9831669

ETF BASIC NEWS

Dividend-paying stocks are compelling to investors for many reasons. Not only do they tend to be less volatile as a group and provide a real cash return right away, but they can also reflect management’s long-range visibility on profits and show its commitment to partnering with shareholders.

Back in 2006, WisdomTree Investments presented its concept of weighting some of its equity ETFs not by each company’s market value (as was the traditional indexing approach popularized by Vanguard), but rather by total dividends paid. WisdomTree’s rationale made some sense — at least in theory.

Indeed, it supported this theory by back-testing the strategy from 1964 to 2005 and found that not only did the portfolios exhibit lower volatility, but that “four of the six WisdomTree Domestic Dividend Indexes generated greater price appreciation than the S&P 500 Index, even without the reinvestment of dividends.”

The problem was, this dividend-weighted theory rested on one enormous assumption: that the dividend-paying environment would continue to behave roughly the same way it had for that 41-year testing period.

Oops
As we’re all now well aware, the dividend landscape has dramatically changed. The past 15 months have been the worst stretch for dividend investors in modern history. Sixty-two S&P 500 companies slashed their payouts some $40.6 billion in 2008 alone.

Another $41.8 billion in dividend cuts — a record — already came in the first 90 days of 2009, including cuts from traditional stalwarts like Capital One Financial (NYSE: COF) and State Street (NYSE: STT). Standard and Poor’s expects S&P 500 dividends to decline some 23% this year — the worst decline since 1938.

Needless to say, these massive dividend cuts have adversely affected WisdomTree’s dividend-weighted strategy. As of Feb. 28, none of the six domestic dividend ETFs had outperformed the S&P 500 since their respective inception dates.

In fact, the worst-performing WisdomTree domestic dividend ETF has been the High-Yielding Equity Index (DHS) — or as it was recently and curiously renamed, the Equity Income Index. Whatever name it goes by, this dividend-weighted ETF is down 48% since inception in 2006, much worse than the 29% lost by the S&P over the same period.

The wide underperformance of the ETF is largely a result of its dividend-weighted design, which is to “reflect the proportionate share of the aggregate cash dividends each component company is projected to pay in the coming year, based on the most recently declared dividend per share.” In other words, if company A is expected to pay $500 in cash dividends next year, it should have a larger weight in the index than company B, which is expected to pay $250.

Handcuffed
Under normal circumstances, that sounds like a nice way to generate extra dividend income and stack your bets behind strong companies. This year, though, has been anything but normal. It’s been the higher-yielding stocks whose dividends have been under the most pressure.

Adding insult to injury, the ETF only rebalances once annually, rendering it effectively helpless in a rapidly changing dividend environment. As dividend-dependent investors flocked out of stocks that dramatically cut their payouts, this ETF has had to sit and grin it out. All 10 of these stocks remain in the ETF’s top 15 holdings to this day, despite the massive dividend cuts.

A better way
For investors seeking to benefit from the advantages of dividend-paying stocks, the WisdomTree Equity Income ETF is one investment to avoid. With dividends being slashed left and right in this market, selectivity is essential and mechanical strategies like this one are left at a major disadvantage. Among other things, savvy dividend investors will want to look for companies with solid balance sheets, a history of increasing dividend payouts, and plenty of free cash flow to cover the payments.

Source: www.msnbc.msn.com
By Todd Wenning

ETF BASIC NEWS