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Is WisdomTree India Earnings ETF (EPI) a Strong ETF Right Now?

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The WisdomTree India Earnings ETF (EPI - Free Report) made its debut on 02/22/2008, and is a smart beta exchange traded fund that provides broad exposure to the Asia-Pacific (Emerging) ETFs category of the market.

What Are Smart Beta ETFs?

For a long time now, the ETF industry has been flooded with products based on market capitalization weighted indexes, which are designed to represent the broader 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.

If you're the kind of investor who would rather try and beat the market through good stock selection, then smart beta funds are your best choice; this fund class is known for tracking non-cap weighted strategies.

This kind of index follows this same mindset, as it attempts to pick stocks that have better chances of risk-return performance; non-cap weighted strategies base selection on certain fundamental characteristics, or a mix of such characteristics.

Methodologies like equal-weighting, one of the simplest options out there, fundamental weighting, and volatility/momentum based weighting are all choices offered to investors in this space, but not all of them can deliver superior returns.

Fund Sponsor & Index

The fund is managed by Wisdomtree. EPI has been able to amass assets over $719.50 million, making it one of the larger ETFs in the Asia-Pacific (Emerging) ETFs. EPI seeks to match the performance of the WisdomTree India Earnings Index before fees and expenses.

The WisdomTree India Earnings Index is a fundamentally weighted index that measures the performance of companies incorporated and traded in India that are profitable and that are eligible to be purchased by foreign investors as of the index measurement date. Weighted Index based on their earnings in their fiscal year prior to the Index measurement date adjusted for foreign investors.

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.

Operating expenses on an annual basis are 0.84% for this ETF, which makes it one of the most expensive products in the space.

EPI's 12-month trailing dividend yield is 6.46%.

Sector Exposure and Top Holdings

It is important to delve into an ETF's holdings before investing despite the many upsides to these kinds of funds like diversified exposure, which minimizes single stock risk. And, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.

Looking at individual holdings, Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) accounts for about 8.65% of total assets, followed by Infosys Ltd and Housing Development Finance Co (HDFC).

EPI's top 10 holdings account for about 34.9% of its total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

The ETF has lost about -5.06% and is down about -8.30% so far this year and in the past one year (as of 11/16/2022), respectively. EPI has traded between $29.42 and $38.88 during this last 52-week period.

The fund has a beta of 0.72 and standard deviation of 27.26% for the trailing three-year period, which makes EPI a medium risk choice in this particular space. With about 475 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Alternatives

WisdomTree India Earnings ETF is a reasonable option for investors seeking to outperform the Asia-Pacific (Emerging) ETFs segment of the market. However, there are other ETFs in the space which investors could consider.

IShares India 50 ETF (INDY - Free Report) tracks Nifty 50 Index and the iShares MSCI India ETF (INDA - Free Report) tracks MSCI India Total Return Index. IShares India 50 ETF has $602.74 million in assets, iShares MSCI India ETF has $4.54 billion. INDY has an expense ratio of 0.89% and INDA charges 0.65%.

Investors looking for cheaper and lower-risk options should consider traditional market cap weighted ETFs that aim to match the returns of the Asia-Pacific (Emerging) 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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