The WisdomTree DEM screens for firms that paid out at least $5 million in regular cash dividends over the past year, have met market-cap and liquidity requirements, and are ranked by dividend yield. DEM has a 0.63% expense ratio and a 3.31% 12-month yield.
“Our pick for a dividend-oriented exposure is WisdomTree Emerging Markets Equity Income DEM, which charges 0.63%,” according to Morningstar analyst Patrcia Oey. “While DVYE weighs its holdings by dividend yield, DEM weighs by total dividends, which results in larger-cap tilt.”
Sector allocations include financials 27.6%, energy 17.2%, materials 17.2%, telecom services 16.4%, information tech 7.4%, utilities 5.4%, consumer staples 3.1%, industrials 2.9% and consumer discretionary 2.6.
Country allocations include Taiwan 20.2%, China 16.1%, Russia 12.1%, Brazil 11.9%, South Africa 7.2%, Thailand 6.6%, Malaysia 4.8%, Turkey 4.5%, Poland 3.5%, South Korea 2.9%, Mexico 2.7%, Indonesia 2.0%, Czech Republic 1.9%, Chile 1.8%, Philippines 1.3%, Argentina 0.2% and Hungary 0.2%.
Other dividend-focused emerging market ETFs have been doing better. The EGShares Low Volatility EM Dividend ETF (NYSEArca: HILO) has remained relatively flat so far this year, and the WisdomTree Emerging Markets SmallCap Dividend Fund (NYSEArca: DGS) has increased 5.0% year-to-date.
iShares Emerging Markets Dividend Index Fund
For more information on the emerging markets, visit our emerging markets category.
Max Chen contributed to this article.