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Is WisdomTree Emerging Markets High Dividend ETF (DEM) a Strong ETF Right Now?

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Making its debut on 07/13/2007, smart beta exchange traded fund WisdomTree Emerging Markets High Dividend ETF (DEM - Free Report) provides investors broad exposure to the Broad Emerging Market ETFs category of the market.

What Are Smart Beta ETFs?

The ETF industry has long been dominated by products based on market cap weighted indexes, a strategy created to reflect the market or a particular market segment.

Market cap weighted indexes offer a low-cost, convenient, and transparent way of replicating market returns, and are a good option for investors who believe in market efficiency.

But, there are some investors who would rather invest in smart beta funds; these funds track non-cap weighted strategies, and are a strong option for those who prefer choosing great stocks in order to beat the market.

Based on specific fundamental characteristics, or a combination of such, these indexes attempt to pick stocks that have a better chance of risk-return performance.

While this space offers a number of choices to investors, including simplest equal-weighting, fundamental weighting and volatility/momentum based weighting methodologies, not all these strategies have been able to deliver superior results.

Fund Sponsor & Index

Managed by Wisdomtree, DEM has amassed assets over $1.71 billion, making it one of the larger ETFs in the Broad Emerging Market ETFs. DEM, before fees and expenses, seeks to match the performance of the WisdomTree Emerging Markets High Dividend Index.

The WisdomTree Emerging Markets High Dividend Index is a fundamentally weighted index that measures the performance of the highest dividend yielding stocks selected from the WisdomTree Emerging Markets Dividend Index.

Cost & Other Expenses

Investors should also pay attention to an ETF's expense ratio. Lower cost products will produce better results than those with a higher cost, assuming all other metrics remain the same.

Annual operating expenses for this ETF are 0.63%, making it on par with most peer products in the space.

It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 8.15%.

Sector Exposure and Top Holdings

Even though ETFs offer diversified exposure which minimizes single stock risk, it is still important to look into a fund's holdings before investing. Luckily, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.

Taking into account individual holdings, Vale Sa (VALE3) accounts for about 9.03% of the fund's total assets, followed by Petroleo Brasileiro Sa (PETR3) and China Construction Bank Corp H.

Performance and Risk

The ETF has lost about -16.66% and is down about -16.06% so far this year and in the past one year (as of 09/26/2022), respectively. DEM has traded between $34.91 and $47.47 during this last 52-week period.

The ETF has a beta of 0.74 and standard deviation of 22.63% for the trailing three-year period, making it a medium risk choice in the space. With about 486 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Alternatives

WisdomTree Emerging Markets High Dividend ETF is a reasonable option for investors seeking to outperform the Broad Emerging Market ETFs segment of the market. However, there are other ETFs in the space which investors could consider.

IShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets ETF (IEMG - Free Report) tracks MSCI Emerging Markets Investable Market Index and the Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets ETF (VWO - Free Report) tracks FTSE Emerging Markets All Cap China A Inclusion Index. IShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets ETF has $59.07 billion in assets, Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets ETF has $64.28 billion. IEMG has an expense ratio of 0.09% and VWO charges 0.08%.

Investors looking for cheaper and lower-risk options should consider traditional market cap weighted ETFs that aim to match the returns of the Broad Emerging Market ETFs.

Bottom Line

To learn more about this product and other ETFs, screen for products that match your investment objectives and read articles on latest developments in the ETF investing universe, please visit Zacks ETF Center.

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