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Is WisdomTree Emerging Markets High Dividend ETF (DEM) a Strong ETF Right Now?
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Designed to provide broad exposure to the Broad Emerging Market ETFs category of the market, the WisdomTree Emerging Markets High Dividend ETF (DEM - Free Report) is a smart beta exchange traded fund launched on 07/13/2007.
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.
Because market cap weighted indexes provide a low-cost, convenient, and transparent way of replicating market returns, they work well 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.
These indexes attempt to select stocks that have better chances of risk-return performance, based on certain fundamental characteristics or a combination of such characteristics.
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
DEM is managed by Wisdomtree, and this fund has amassed over $3.89 billion, which makes it one of the largest 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.
The fund has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 3.88%.
Sector Exposure and Top Holdings
While ETFs offer diversified exposure, which minimizes single stock risk, a deep look into a fund's holdings is a valuable exercise. And, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.
Looking at individual holdings, China Construction Bank-h accounts for about 4.39% of total assets, followed by Industrial & Commercial Bank Of China-h and Mediatek Inc.
DEM's top 10 holdings account for about 21.39% of its total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
So far this year, DEM has added about 16.22%, and is up about 27.57% in the last one year (as of 05/25/2026). During this past 52-week period, the fund has traded between $43.76 and $54.73.
The ETF has a beta of 0.54 and standard deviation of 14.27% for the trailing three-year period, making it a medium risk choice in the space. With about 542 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.
Vanguard Emerging Markets Stock Index Fund ETF Shares (VWO) tracks FTSE Emerging Markets All Cap China A Inclusion Index and the iShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets ETF (IEMG) tracks MSCI Emerging Markets Investable Market Index. Vanguard Emerging Markets Stock Index Fund ETF Shares has $120.02 billion in assets, iShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets ETF has $156.44 billion. VWO has an expense ratio of 0.06% and IEMG changes 0.09%.
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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Is WisdomTree Emerging Markets High Dividend ETF (DEM) a Strong ETF Right Now?
Designed to provide broad exposure to the Broad Emerging Market ETFs category of the market, the WisdomTree Emerging Markets High Dividend ETF (DEM - Free Report) is a smart beta exchange traded fund launched on 07/13/2007.
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.
Because market cap weighted indexes provide a low-cost, convenient, and transparent way of replicating market returns, they work well 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.
These indexes attempt to select stocks that have better chances of risk-return performance, based on certain fundamental characteristics or a combination of such characteristics.
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
DEM is managed by Wisdomtree, and this fund has amassed over $3.89 billion, which makes it one of the largest 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.
The fund has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 3.88%.
Sector Exposure and Top Holdings
While ETFs offer diversified exposure, which minimizes single stock risk, a deep look into a fund's holdings is a valuable exercise. And, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.
Looking at individual holdings, China Construction Bank-h accounts for about 4.39% of total assets, followed by Industrial & Commercial Bank Of China-h and Mediatek Inc.
DEM's top 10 holdings account for about 21.39% of its total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
So far this year, DEM has added about 16.22%, and is up about 27.57% in the last one year (as of 05/25/2026). During this past 52-week period, the fund has traded between $43.76 and $54.73.
The ETF has a beta of 0.54 and standard deviation of 14.27% for the trailing three-year period, making it a medium risk choice in the space. With about 542 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.
Vanguard Emerging Markets Stock Index Fund ETF Shares (VWO) tracks FTSE Emerging Markets All Cap China A Inclusion Index and the iShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets ETF (IEMG) tracks MSCI Emerging Markets Investable Market Index. Vanguard Emerging Markets Stock Index Fund ETF Shares has $120.02 billion in assets, iShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets ETF has $156.44 billion. VWO has an expense ratio of 0.06% and IEMG changes 0.09%.
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.