PRESS ROOM
WisdomTree Launches Emerging Asia Equity Income UCITS ETF and Multiple Share Classes of Flagship Currency-Hedged UCITS ETFs on the SIX Swiss Exchange
Thursday 04th February '16
Hector McNeil, Co-CEO
• WisdomTree, issuer of the world’s largest currency-hedged ETFs, has launched the Emerging Asia Equity Income UCITS ETF (DEMA) and multiple share classes of its UCITS ETFs covering currency hedges in Europe’s major currencies of CHF, GBP and EUR.
• DEMA tracks a dividend-weighted index, offering the potential for better risk-adjusted returns and higher yields relative to traditional regional market cap-weighted benchmarks.
• The index follows an existing WisdomTree methodology which has over nine years of track record in the US, with this index being launched for the first time in Europe. The Emerging Asia Equity Income index has a historic yield of 6.3% p.a. over the past 12 months1.
• The three funds offering new share classes for investors include WisdomTree Japan Equity UCITS ETF (DXJ), WisdomTree Europe Equity UCITS ETF (HEDJ) and WisdomTree German Equity UCITS ETF (DXGP). In addition to the new currency hedged classes, unhedged versions of WisdomTree’s most popular ETFs will also be offered.
Zurich, Thursday, 4 February 2016: WisdomTree, the exchange-traded fund (“ETF”) and exchange-traded product (“ETP”) sponsor, and the world’s largest currency-hedged ETF issuer by AUM, today announced the launch of the WisdomTree Emerging Asia Equity Income UCITS ETF (DEMA) and multiple new share classes across a range of its existing hedged currency funds on the SIX Swiss Exchange.
Emerging Asia Equity Income UCITS ETF
DEMA is benchmarked against the WisdomTree Emerging Asia Equity Income Index which is comprised of the highest 30% of companies domiciled in Emerging Asia ranked by dividend yield. The resulting constituents are used to construct a broadly diversified exposure, with a 4.5% single stock weighting cap, a 33.3% sector cap and a 33.3% country cap combined with a unique fundamental weighting strategy based on the absolute amount of dividends paid by the companies. The methodology helps to mitigate risk and focus on the larger dividend paying countries and sectors. Academic research2 shows that indices weighted by dividends, or which include higher yielding companies, have tended to outperform market capitalisation indices over the long term.
Viktor Nossek, Director of Research at WisdomTree Europe said:
“The WisdomTree Emerging Asia Equity Income UCITS ETF provides a balanced exposure to the highest yielding companies in the region. It has over 300 constituents and features a mid- to small-cap bias with close to 53% of the index comprised of stocks with a market capitalisation below $10bn. The strategy tends to be overweight higher dividend-yielding countries such as China and Taiwan and tends to be underweight low dividend-yielding countries such as India and South Korea. At a sector level, it is overweight financials and defensives such as telecoms, energy and utilities.
The capping of individual sector and country exposures at 33.3% creates a balanced portfolio, providing risk control at different parts of the investment cycle. The low price-to-book and PE ratios are a reflection of how the index aims to capture value stocks whilst the historic dividend yield of 6.3% compares favourably to competing indices.”
The details of the WisdomTree Emerging Asia Equity Income UCITS ETF are:
Fund | Ticker | ISIN | Base Currency |
WisdomTree Emerging Asia Equity Income UCITS ETF | DEMA | IE00BYPGT035 | USD |
Additional New Share Classes
In addition new share classes will be available for the existing ranges of WisdomTree Japan Equity UCITS ETF – USD Hedged (DXJ), WisdomTree Europe Equity UCITS ETF – USD Hedged (HEDJ) and WisdomTree German Equity UCITS ETF – GBP Hedged (DXGP) and will be listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange (SIX). In addition to the hedged share classes, unhedged share classes will also be offered. These ETFs will allow investors to access core export-oriented strategies relating to Japanese, Continental European and German equities in a new way.
Hector McNeil, Co-CEO of WisdomTree Europe commented:
“WisdomTree is pleased to bring additional benefits for investors through the launch of the Emerging Asia Equity Income UCITS ETF and additional share classes for a number of existing products. The WisdomTree Emerging Asia Equity Income UCITS ETF provides a balanced exposure to the highest yielding companies in the region. The index methodology is the same that underpins many existing WisdomTree ETFs and has helped the company grow to become the 5th largest ETF issuer in the US market and the 7th globally.
Following the launch of these flagship currency hedged ETFs, investor demand has led us to bring more choice and flexibility to European investors. Investors will have the opportunity to switch efficiently between share classes, allowing them to maintain their core equity exposure whilst offering the flexibility to implement their view of currency movements. With this extension of our offering we will have one of the most comprehensive currency hedged and smart beta offerings on the SIX platform”.
The additional share classes now available on the SIX Swiss Exchange are:
Fund | Ticker | ISIN | Share Class Currency | Hedged Currency |
WisdomTree Germany Equity UCITS ETF - GBP Hedged | DXGP | IE00BVXBGY20 | GBP | EUR |
WisdomTree Germany Equity UCITS ETF - CHF Hedged Acc | DXGD | IE00BYQCZ914 | CHF | EUR |
WisdomTree Germany Equity UCITS ETF – USD Hedged | DXGE | IE00BYQCZ682 | USD | EUR |
WisdomTree Germany Equity UCITS ETF - EUR Acc | DXGY | IE00BYQCZC44 | EUR | N/A |
WisdomTree Europe Equity UCITS ETF - GBP Hedged | HEDP | IE00BYQCZQ89 | GBP | EUR |
WisdomTree Europe Equity UCITS ETF - CHF Hedged Acc | HEDD | IE00BYQCZT11 | CHF | EUR |
WisdomTree Europe Equity UCITS ETF - EUR Acc | HEDF | IE00BYQCZX56 | EUR | N/A |
WisdomTree Japan Equity UCITS ETF - GBP Hedged | DXJP | IE00BYQCZF74 | GBP | JPY |
WisdomTree Japan Equity UCITS ETF - EUR Hedged Acc | DXJF | IE00BYQCZJ13 | EUR | JPY |
WisdomTree Japan Equity UCITS ETF – JPY Acc | DXJZ | IE00BYQCZN58 | USD | N/A |
WisdomTree Japan Equity UCITS ETF – CHF Hedged Acc | DXJD | IE00BYQCZL35 | CHF | JPY |
Notes to Editors
About WisdomTree Europe Ltd.
WisdomTree Investments, Inc., through its subsidiaries in the U.S. and Europe, including WisdomTree Europe Ltd based in London, is an exchange-traded fund (“ETF”) and exchange-traded product (“ETP”) sponsor and asset manager. WisdomTree offers products covering equities, fixed income, currencies, commodities and alternative strategies. Through WisdomTree Europe Ltd, it sponsors WisdomTree UCITS ETFs and BOOST short and leverage ETPs. WisdomTree currently has approximately $52.4 billion (as of 31 December 2015) in assets under management globally. For more information, please visit www.wisdomtree.com.
WisdomTree® is the marketing name for WisdomTree Investments, Inc. and its subsidiaries worldwide.
Disclaimer
WisdomTree Europe Ltd is an appointed representative of Mirabella Financial Services LLP which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.
The products discussed in this document are issued by WisdomTree Issuer PLC (the “Issuer”), an umbrella investment company with variable capital having segregated liability between its funds and organised under the laws of Ireland as a public limited company. The Issuer has been authorised by the Central Bank of Ireland (the “CBI”) as a UCITS pursuant to the European Communities (Undertaking for Collective Investment in Transferable Securities) Regulations, 2003 (as amended) and shall issue a separate class of shares ("Shares”) representing each fund.
The Shares are products involving a significant degree of risk and may not be suitable for all types of investor. Any decision to invest should be based on the information contained in the Prospectus. The price of any securities may go up or down and an investor may not get back the amount invested. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance. Any historical performance included in this document may be based on back testing. Back testing is the process of evaluating an investment strategy by applying it to historical data to simulate what the performance of such strategy would have been. However, back tested performance is purely hypothetical and is provided in this document solely for informational purposes. Back tested data does not represent actual performance and should not be interpreted as an indication of actual or future performance.
This document may contain independent market commentary prepared by WTE based on publicly available information. WisdomTree Europe does not warrant, guarantee or otherwise confirm the accuracy or correctness of any information contained herein and any opinions related to product or market activity may change. This marketing information is intended for professional clients & sophisticated investors (as defined in the glossary of the FCA Handbook) only.