WisdomTree announced that they are launching two new ETFs on the BATS Exchange: WisdomTree Emerging Markets Dividend Fund (BATS: DVEM) and the WisdomTree International Quality Dividend Growth Fund (BATS: IQDG).
DVEM seeks to provide exposure to dividend-paying stocks in the emerging markets and has an expense ratio of 0.32%. IQDG is designed to provide exposure to developed international dividend-paying stocks with growth characteristics and has an expense ratio of 0.38%.
Jeremy Schwartz, WisdomTree Director of Research, said dividends offer numerous benefits including the potential to enhance performance, increase portfolio income and help reduce downside risk.
“The power of weighting equity markets by the dividends companies pay rather than by their market value can be seen in the live performance track record of our existing WisdomTree Emerging Markets Dividend Index, relative to the broad market benchmark, the MSCI Emerging Markets Index,” Schwartz said in a press release.
DVEM tracks a WisdomTree dividend-weighted index with nearly nine years of live performance data, broad exposure and a relative value rebalance.
The cumulative outperformance and above benchmark dividend levels were achieved with less volatility and lower risk, whether evaluating standard deviation6 or beta7 relative to the broad market benchmark.
[related_stories]Meanwhile, IQDG sets out to capture International Quality Dividend Growth Dividend-paying equities have increasingly become an attractive option for investors looking to generate income and pursue higher total return potential.
Dividends provide an objective measure of a company’s health and profitability – one that cannot be affected by accounting methods or government decisions. And while the emerging markets may not be the first place investors look when seeking income, WisdeomTree believe the region’s potential is significant. Over 93% of traditional emerging market benchmarks 2 are comprised of companies that paid at least one dividend over the prior 12 months.