International Equity
ETFs |
|
Prospectus |
THE U.S. SECURITIES AND
EXCHANGE COMMISSION (“SEC”) HAS NOT APPROVED OR DISAPPROVED THESE
SECURITIES OR PASSED UPON THE ADEQUACY OF THIS PROSPECTUS. ANY
REPRESENTATION TO THE CONTRARY IS A CRIMINAL OFFENSE. |
August 1, 2023 |
WisdomTree Trust
WisdomTree International
Equity ETFs* |
Developed World
ex-U.S.
International Equity Fund
(DWM)
International High Dividend
Fund (DTH)
International LargeCap
Dividend Fund (DOL)
International MidCap
Dividend Fund (DIM)
International SmallCap
Dividend Fund (DLS)
International AI Enhanced
Value Fund (AIVI)
International Quality
Dividend Growth Fund (IQDG)
International Multifactor
Fund (DWMF)
Europe Quality Dividend
Growth Fund (EUDG)
Europe SmallCap Dividend
Fund (DFE)
Japan SmallCap Dividend Fund
(DFJ)
Currency Hedged
Equity
Japan Hedged Equity Fund
(DXJ)
Japan Hedged SmallCap Equity
Fund (DXJS)
Europe Hedged Equity Fund
(HEDJ)
Europe Hedged SmallCap
Equity Fund (EUSC)
Germany Hedged Equity Fund
(DXGE) |
|
International Hedged Quality
Dividend Growth Fund (IHDG)
Global/Global
ex-U.S.
Global High Dividend Fund
(DEW)
Global ex-U.S. Quality
Dividend Growth Fund (DNL)
New Economy Real Estate Fund
(WTRE)
Emerging/Frontier
Markets
Emerging Markets High
Dividend Fund (DEM)
Emerging Markets SmallCap
Dividend Fund (DGS)
Emerging Markets Quality
Dividend Growth Fund (DGRE)
Emerging Markets Multifactor
Fund (EMMF)
Emerging Markets
ex-State-Owned Enterprises Fund (XSOE)
India Earnings Fund (EPI)
India ex-State-Owned
Enterprises Fund (IXSE)
China ex-State-Owned
Enterprises Fund (CXSE)
Megatrend
Growth Leaders Fund (PLAT) |
* Principal U.S. Listing Exchange: NYSE Arca, Inc.
(except DXJS, DXGE, CXSE and DGRE are listed on NASDAQ and IQDG is listed
on Cboe BZX Exchange, Inc.) |
WisdomTree Trust
WisdomTree International Equity
Fund
Investment
Objective
The WisdomTree International
Equity Fund (the “Fund”) seeks to track the price and yield performance, before
fees and expenses, of the WisdomTree International Equity Index (the
“Index”).
Fees and Expenses of the
Fund
The following table describes
the fees and expenses you may pay if you buy, hold and sell shares of the Fund.
You may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to
financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the table and example
below. The fees are expressed as a percentage of the Fund’s average net
assets.
Shareholder Fees (fees paid
directly from your investment) |
None |
Annual Fund Operating Expenses
(expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your
investment) |
|
Management Fees |
0.48% |
Distribution and/or Service
(12b-1) Fees |
None |
Other Expenses |
0.00%1 |
Total Annual Fund Operating
Expenses |
0.48%1 |
1 |
Excludes expenses associated
with the collection of additional European Union tax reclaims resulting
from European Court of Justice rulings in several court cases in certain
countries across the European Union. If these expenses were included,
“Other Expenses” would be 0.01% and “Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses”
would be 0.49%. |
Example
The following example is
intended to help retail investors compare the cost of investing in the Fund with
the cost of investing in other funds. It illustrates the hypothetical expenses
that such investors would incur over various periods if they were to invest
$10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated and then redeem all of their
shares at the end of those periods. This example assumes that the Fund provides
a return of 5% a year and that operating expenses remain the same. This example
does not include the brokerage commissions that retail investors may pay to buy
and sell shares of the Fund. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower,
based on these assumptions, your costs would be:
|
1 Year |
3 Years |
5 Years |
10 Years |
|
$ 49 |
$ 154 |
$ 269 |
$ 604 |
Portfolio
Turnover
The Fund pays transaction
costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over”
its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction
costs and may result in higher taxes when Fund shares are held in a taxable
account. These costs, which are not reflected in annual fund operating expenses
or in the example, affect the Fund’s performance. During the most recent fiscal
year, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 24% of the average
value of its portfolio, excluding the value of portfolio securities received or
delivered as a result of in-kind creations or redemptions of the Fund’s capital
shares.
Principal Investment Strategies of the
Fund
The Fund employs a “passive
management” – or indexing – investment approach designed to track the
performance of the Index. The Fund generally uses a representative sampling
strategy to achieve its investment objective, meaning it generally will invest
in a sample of the securities in the Index whose risk, return and other
characteristics resemble the risk, return and other characteristics of the Index
as a whole. Under normal circumstances, at least 95% of the Fund’s total assets
(exclusive of collateral held from securities lending) will be invested in
component securities of the Index and investments that have economic
characteristics that are substantially identical to the economic characteristics
of such component securities.
The Index is a
fundamentally weighted index that is comprised of companies in the
industrialized world, excluding Canada and the United States, that pay regular
cash dividends. To be eligible for inclusion in the Index, a company must meet
the following criteria as of the annual Index screening date: (i) incorporation
in one of 15 developed European countries (Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland,
France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden,
Switzerland, or the United Kingdom), Israel, Japan, Australia, Hong Kong or
Singapore; (ii) payment of at least $5 million in cash dividends on shares of
common stock during the preceding annual cycle; (iii) market capitalization of
at least $100 million; (iv) median daily dollar trading volume of at least
$100,000 for the preceding three months; and (v) trading of at least 250,000
shares per month for each of the preceding six months.
2 WisdomTree
Trust Prospectus |
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Securities are weighted in
the Index based on dividends paid over the prior annual cycle. Companies that
pay a greater total dollar amount of dividends are more heavily weighted. To
derive a company’s initial Index weight, (i) multiply the U.S. dollar
value of the company’s annual gross dividend per share by the number of common
shares outstanding for that company (the “Cash Dividend Factor”); (ii) calculate
the Cash Dividend Factor for each company; (iii) add together all of the
companies’ Cash Dividend Factors; and (iv) divide the company’s Cash
Dividend Factor by the sum of all Cash Dividend Factors. On the Index’s annual
screening date, the Index caps the weight of components exposed to any one
country and any one sector (except for the real estate sector) at 25%. The
weight of components exposed to the real estate sector is capped at 15%. The
Index also may adjust the weight of individual components on the annual
screening date based on certain quantitative thresholds or limits tied to key
metrics of a component security, such as its trading volume. To the extent the
Index reduces an individual component’s weight, the excess weight will be
reallocated pro rata among the other components. Similarly, if the Index
increases a component’s weight, the weight of the other components will be
reduced on a pro rata basis to contribute the weight needed for such increase.
The weight of a sector, country, or individual component in the Index may
fluctuate above or below specified caps and thresholds, respectively, between
screening dates in response to market conditions.
WisdomTree, Inc. (“WisdomTree”), as Index provider,
currently uses the Global Industry Classification Standard (GICS®), a
widely recognized industry classification methodology developed by MSCI, Inc.
and Standard & Poor’s Financial Services LLC, to define companies within a
sector. The following sectors are included in the Index: communication services,
consumer discretionary, consumer staples, energy, financials, health care,
industrials, information technology, materials, real estate, and utilities. A
sector is comprised of multiple industries. For example, the energy sector is
comprised of companies in the energy equipment and services industry as well as
the oil, gas and consumable fuels industry. As of June 30, 2023, companies in
the financials sector comprised a significant portion (i.e., in excess of
15% of the Index’s total weighting) of the Index; however, the Index's sector
exposure may change from time to time.
To the extent the Index concentrates
(i.e., holds 25% or more of its total assets) in the securities of a
particular industry or group of industries, the Fund will concentrate its
investments to approximately the same extent as the Index.
As of June 30, 2023, the
equity securities of companies domiciled in or otherwise tied to Japan and
Europe (including exposure to the United Kingdom) comprised a significant
portion (i.e., in excess of 15% of the Index’s total weighting) of the
Index, although the Index’s geographic exposure may change from time to
time.
Principal Risks of Investing in the
Fund
You can lose money on your investment in
the Fund. While certain of the risks are prioritized in
terms of their relevance to the Fund’s investment strategies, most risks are
presented in alphabetical order. This ordering approach is designed to both
facilitate an investor’s understanding of the Fund’s risks and enable an
investor to easily locate and compare risks among funds. Each risk summarized
below is considered a “principal risk” of investing in the Fund, regardless of
the order in which it appears. Some or all of these risks may adversely affect
the Fund’s net asset value per share (“NAV”), trading price, yield, total return
and/or ability to meet its objective. For more information about the risks of
investing in the Fund, see the sections in the Fund’s Prospectus titled
“Additional Principal Risk Information About the Funds” and “Additional
Non-Principal Risk Information.”
■ |
Foreign Securities
Risk. Investments in non-U.S. securities involve political,
regulatory, and economic risks that may not be present in U.S. securities.
For example, investments in non-U.S. securities may be subject to risk of
loss due to foreign currency fluctuations, political or economic
instability, or geographic events that adversely impact issuers of foreign
securities. Investments in non-U.S. securities also may be subject to
withholding or other taxes and may be subject to additional trading,
settlement, custodial, and operational risks. These and other factors can
make investments in the Fund more volatile and potentially less liquid
than other types of investments and may be heightened in connection with
investments in developing or emerging markets
countries. |
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Investment Risk. As
with all investments, an investment in the Fund is subject to loss,
including the possible loss of the entire principal amount of an
investment, over short or long periods of
time. |
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WisdomTree Trust Prospectus 3 |
■ |
Market Risk. The
trading prices of equity securities and other instruments fluctuate in
response to a variety of factors, such as economic, financial or political
events that impact the entire market, market segments, or specific
issuers. The Fund’s NAV and market price may fluctuate significantly in
response to these and other factors. As a result, an investor could lose
money over short or long periods of time. |
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Shares of the Fund May
Trade at Prices Other Than NAV. As with all exchange-traded funds
(“ETFs”), Fund shares may be bought and sold in the secondary market at
market prices. The market prices of the Fund’s shares in the secondary
market generally differ from the Fund’s daily NAV, and there may be times
when the market price of the shares is more than the NAV (premium) or less
than the NAV (discount). This risk is heightened in times of market
volatility or periods of steep market declines. Because securities held by
the Fund trade on, or have exposure to, foreign exchanges that are closed
when the Fund’s primary listing exchange is open, the Fund is likely to
experience premiums and discounts greater than those of domestic ETFs.
Additionally, in stressed market conditions, the market for the Fund’s
shares may become less liquid in response to deteriorating liquidity in
the markets for the Fund’s underlying portfolio
holdings. |
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■ |
Currency Exchange Rate
Risk. Changes in currency exchange rates and the relative value of
non-U.S. currencies will affect the value of the Fund’s investment and the
value of your Fund shares. Currency exchange rates can be very volatile
and can change quickly and unpredictably. As a result, the value of an
investment in the Fund may also change quickly, unpredictably, and without
warning, and you may lose money. |
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Cybersecurity Risk. The
Fund and its service providers may be susceptible to operational and
information security risks resulting from a breach in cybersecurity,
including cyber-attacks. A breach in cybersecurity, intentional or
unintentional, may adversely impact the Fund in many ways, including, but
not limited to, disruption of the Fund’s operational capacity, loss of
proprietary information, theft or corruption of data, denial-of-service
attacks on websites or network resources, and the unauthorized release of
confidential information. Cyber-attacks affecting the Fund’s third-party
service providers, market makers, institutional investors authorized to
purchase and redeem shares directly from the Fund (i.e., Authorized
Participants), or the issuers of securities in which the Fund invests may
subject the Fund to many of the same risks associated with direct
cybersecurity breaches. |
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Financials Sector Risk.
The Fund currently invests a significant portion of its assets in the
financials sector, and therefore, the Fund’s performance could be
negatively impacted by events affecting this sector. The financials sector
includes, for example, companies engaged in banking, financial services,
consumer finance, capital markets and insurance activities as well as
financial exchanges, financial data providers and mortgage real estate
investment trusts. This sector can be significantly affected by, among
other things, changes in interest rates, government regulation, the rate
of defaults on corporate, consumer and government debt, and the
availability and cost of capital. |
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■ |
Geographic Investment
Risk. To the extent the Fund invests a significant portion of its
assets in securities of companies of a single country or region, it is
more likely to be impacted by events or conditions affecting that country
or region. |
Investments in
Japan
Investments in Japan are subject to risks associated with its
economy's dependence on the export market and consistent government support of
its export market. Slowdowns in the Japanese export market may have a negative
impact on the Japanese economy as a whole. Japan is also subject to risks
associated with natural disasters and escalating political tension in the
region.
Investments in
Europe
Many European countries are members of the European Union (“EU”)
as well as the European Economic and Monetary Union (“EMU”) and, as a result,
the economies and markets of European countries can be closely connected and
largely interdependent. As such, adverse events in one European country may have
effects across Europe. Investments in Europe are also subject to risks stemming
from the uncertain consequences of the United Kingdom's (“U.K.”) exit of the EU
single market and customs union (“Brexit”). Further, Russia's invasion of the
Ukraine, and the continued hostilities in the region, have caused increased
volatility in European markets and led to broad ranging economic sanctions
against Russia. Uncertainties surrounding the duration and potential increased
geographic scope of hostilities may create additional volatility in European and
global markets. Any of the above could have a negative effect on the Fund's
investments in Europe.
Investments in the
United Kingdom
Investments in the United Kingdom (“U.K.”) are subject to
risks associated with uncertainties surrounding Brexit and changes in the
economic health of its primary trade partners across Europe and the United
States.
4 WisdomTree
Trust Prospectus |
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The U.K.'s economy is also
heavily dependent on the export of financial services and may be impacted by a
slowdown in the financial services sector.
■ |
Geopolitical Risk. Some
countries and regions in which the Fund invests have experienced security
concerns, war, threats of war, aggression and/or conflict, terrorism,
economic uncertainty, sanctions or the threat of sanctions, natural and
environmental disasters, the spread of infectious illness, widespread
disease or other public health issues and/or systemic market dislocations
(including due to events outside of such countries or regions) that have
led, and in the future may lead, to increased short-term market volatility
and may have adverse long-term effects on the U.S. and world economies and
markets generally, each of which may negatively impact the Fund’s
investments. |
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Index and Data Risk.
The Fund is not “actively” managed and seeks to track the price and yield
performance, before fees and expenses, of the Index. The Index may not
perform as intended. The Index provider has the right to make adjustments
to the Index or to cease making the Index available without regard to the
particular interests of the Fund or its shareholders. If the computers or
other facilities of the Index provider, Index calculation agent, data
providers and/or relevant stock exchange malfunction for any reason,
calculation and dissemination of Index values may be delayed and trading
in Fund shares may be suspended for a period of time. Errors in Index
data, Index calculations and/or the construction of the Index may occur
from time to time and may not be identified and/or corrected by the Index
provider, Index calculation agent or other applicable party for a period
of time or at all, which may have an adverse impact on the Fund and its
shareholders. The potential risk of continuing error may be particularly
heightened in the case of the Index, which is generally not used as a
benchmark by other funds or managers. |
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Investment Style Risk.
The Fund invests in the securities included in, or representative of, the
Index regardless of their investment merit. The Fund does not attempt to
outperform the Index or take defensive positions in declining markets. As
a result, the Fund’s performance may be adversely affected by a general
decline in the market segments relating to the
Index. |
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Issuer-Specific Risk.
Issuer-specific events, including changes in the actual or perceived
financial condition of an issuer, can have a negative impact on the value
of the Fund. |
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Large-Capitalization
Investing Risk. The Fund may invest in the securities of
large-capitalization companies. As a result, the Fund’s performance may be
adversely affected if securities of these companies underperform
securities of smaller capitalization companies or the market as a whole.
Large-capitalization companies may adapt more slowly to new competitive
challenges and be subject to slower growth during times of economic
expansion. |
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Mid-Capitalization
Investing Risk. The Fund may invest in the securities of
mid-capitalization companies. As a result, the Fund’s performance may be
adversely affected if securities of these companies underperform
securities of other capitalization ranges or the market as a whole.
Securities of mid-capitalization companies are often less stable and more
vulnerable to market volatility and adverse economic developments than
securities of larger companies, but mid-capitalization companies may also
underperform the securities of small-capitalization companies because
medium capitalization companies are more mature and are subject to slower
growth during economic expansion. |
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Non-Correlation Risk.
As with all index funds, the performance of the Fund and that of its Index
may differ from each other for a variety of reasons. For example, the Fund
incurs operating expenses and portfolio transaction costs, while also
managing cash flows and potential operational inefficiencies, not incurred
by its Index. In addition, when markets are volatile, the ability to sell
securities at fair market prices may be adversely affected and may result
in additional trading costs and/or increase the non-correlation risk. The
Fund's use of sampling techniques also may affect its ability to achieve
close correlation with its Index. |
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Non-Diversification
Risk. The Fund is considered to be non-diversified, which means that
it may invest more of its assets in the securities of a single issuer or a
smaller number of issuers than if it were a diversified fund. To the
extent the Fund invests a significant percentage of its assets in a
limited number of issuers, the Fund is subject to the risks of investing
in those few issuers, and may be more susceptible to a single adverse
economic or regulatory occurrence. As a result, changes in the market
value of a single security could cause greater fluctuations in the value
of Fund shares than would occur in a diversified
fund. |
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WisdomTree Trust Prospectus 5 |
Fund
Performance
Historical Fund
performance, which varies over time, can provide an indication of the risks of
investing in the Fund. The bar chart that follows shows the annual total returns
of the Fund for each full calendar year since the Fund commenced operations, or
the past 10 calendar years, as applicable. The table that
follows the bar chart shows the Fund’s average annual total returns, both before
and after taxes. This table also shows how the Fund’s performance compares to
the Index and the MSCI EAFE Index, a relevant broad-based securities index. In
addition, performance also is shown for the MSCI EAFE Value Index, another
comparative index that also represents the asset class in which the Fund
invests. Index returns do not reflect deductions for fees, expenses or taxes.
All returns assume reinvestment of dividends and distributions. The Fund’s past performance
(before and after taxes) is not necessarily an indication of how the Fund will
perform in the future. Updated performance information
for the Fund is available online on the Fund’s website at www.wisdomtree.com/investments.
Year |
Return |
2013 |
21.74% |
2014 |
-3.52% |
2015 |
-2.60% |
2016 |
2.88% |
2017 |
23.46% |
2018 |
-13.54% |
2019 |
19.07% |
2020 |
-1.94% |
2021 |
10.44% |
2022 |
-9.11% |
The Fund’s
year-to-date total return
as of June 30,
2023 was 8.86%.
Best and Worst Quarter
Returns (for the periods reflected in the bar chart above)
|
Return |
Quarter/Year |
Highest
Return |
17.34% |
4Q/2022 December 31,
2022 |
Lowest
Return |
(25.52)% |
1Q/2020 March 31,
2020 |
After-tax returns are
calculated using the highest historical individual federal marginal income tax
rates and do not reflect the impact of state and local
taxes. Actual after-tax returns
depend on your tax situation and may differ from those shown and are not
relevant if you hold your shares through tax-deferred arrangements, such as
401(k) plans or individual retirement accounts. In some cases, the return
after taxes may exceed the return before taxes due to an assumed tax benefit
from any losses on a sale of Fund shares at the end of the measurement
period.
Average Annual Total Returns for the periods
ending December 31, 2022
WisdomTree International
Equity Fund |
1 Year |
5 Years |
10 Years |
Return Before Taxes Based on
NAV |
(9.11)% |
0.26% |
3.95% |
Return After Taxes on
Distributions |
(9.97)% |
(0.52)% |
3.05% |
Return After Taxes on
Distributions and Sale of Fund Shares |
(4.67)% |
0.26% |
3.03% |
WisdomTree International
Equity Index (Reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes) |
(8.81)% |
0.51% |
4.19% |
MSCI EAFE Index (Reflects no
deduction for fees, expenses or taxes) |
(14.45)% |
1.54% |
4.67% |
MSCI EAFE Value Index
(Reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes) |
(5.58)% |
0.17% |
3.51% |
Management
Investment Adviser and
Sub-Adviser
WisdomTree Asset
Management, Inc. (“WisdomTree Asset Management” or the “Adviser”) serves as
investment adviser to the Fund. Mellon Investments Corporation (the
“Sub-Adviser”) serves as sub-adviser to the Fund.
6 WisdomTree
Trust Prospectus |
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Portfolio
Managers
The Fund is managed by the
Sub-Adviser’s Equity Index Strategies Portfolio Management team. The individual
members of the team jointly and primarily responsible for the day-to-day
management of the Fund’s portfolio are identified below.
Marlene Walker-Smith, a
Director, Head of Equity Index Portfolio Management, has been a portfolio
manager of the Fund since October 2020.
David France, CFA, a Vice
President, Senior Portfolio Manager and Team Manager, has been a portfolio
manager of the Fund since June 2021.
Todd Frysinger, CFA, a Vice
President, Senior Portfolio Manager and Team Manager, has been a portfolio
manager of the Fund since June 2021.
Vlasta Sheremeta, CFA, a
Vice President, Senior Portfolio Manager and Team Manager, has been a portfolio
manager of the Fund since June 2021.
Michael Stoll, a Vice
President, Senior Portfolio Manager and Team Manager, has been a portfolio
manager of the Fund since June 2021.
Buying and Selling Fund
Shares
The Fund is an ETF. This
means that individual shares of the Fund are listed on a national securities
exchange, such as NYSE Arca, and may only be purchased and sold in the secondary
market through a broker-dealer at market prices. Because Fund shares trade at
market prices rather than NAV, shares may trade at a price greater than NAV
(premium) or less than NAV (discount). In addition, an investor may incur costs
attributable to the difference between the highest price a buyer is willing to
pay to purchase shares (bid) and the lowest price a seller is willing to accept
for shares (ask) when buying and selling shares in the secondary market (the
“bid/ask spread”). Recent information regarding the Fund, including its NAV,
market price, premiums and discounts, and bid/ask spreads, is available on the
Fund’s website at www.wisdomtree.com/investments.
The Fund issues and redeems
shares at NAV only in large blocks of shares (“Creation Units”), which only
certain institutions or large investors (typically market makers or other
broker-dealers) may purchase or redeem. The Fund issues and redeems Creation
Units in exchange for a portfolio of securities and/or U.S. cash.
Tax Information
The Fund intends to make
distributions that may be taxed as ordinary income, qualified dividend income,
or capital gains.
Payments to
Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries
If you purchase shares of
the Fund through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a
bank) (an “Intermediary”), WisdomTree Asset Management or its affiliates may pay
Intermediaries for certain activities related to the Fund, including
participation in activities that are designed to make Intermediaries more
knowledgeable about exchange-traded products, including the Fund, or for other
activities, such as marketing, educational training or other initiatives related
to the sale or promotion of Fund shares. These payments may create a conflict of
interest by influencing the Intermediary and your salesperson to recommend the
Fund over another investment. Any such arrangements do not result in increased
Fund expenses. Ask your salesperson or visit the Intermediary’s website for more
information.
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WisdomTree Trust Prospectus 7 |
WisdomTree International High Dividend
Fund
Investment
Objective
The WisdomTree International
High Dividend Fund (the “Fund”) seeks to track the price and yield performance,
before fees and expenses, of the WisdomTree International High Dividend Index
(the “Index”).
Fees and Expenses of the
Fund
The following table describes
the fees and expenses you may pay if you buy, hold and sell shares of the Fund.
You may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to
financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the table and example
below. The fees are expressed as a percentage of the Fund’s average net
assets.
Shareholder Fees (fees paid
directly from your investment) |
None |
Annual Fund Operating Expenses
(expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your
investment) |
|
Management Fees |
0.58% |
Distribution and/or Service
(12b-1) Fees |
None |
Other Expenses |
0.00%1 |
Total Annual Fund Operating
Expenses |
0.58%1 |
Example
The following example is
intended to help retail investors compare the cost of investing in the Fund with
the cost of investing in other funds. It illustrates the hypothetical expenses
that such investors would incur over various periods if they were to invest
$10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated and then redeem all of their
shares at the end of those periods. This example assumes that the Fund provides
a return of 5% a year and that operating expenses remain the same. This example
does not include the brokerage commissions that retail investors may pay to buy
and sell shares of the Fund. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower,
based on these assumptions, your costs would be:
|
1 Year |
3 Years |
5 Years |
10 Years |
|
$ 59 |
$ 186 |
$ 324 |
$ 726 |
Portfolio
Turnover
The Fund pays transaction
costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over”
its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction
costs and may result in higher taxes when Fund shares are held in a taxable
account. These costs, which are not reflected in annual fund operating expenses
or in the example, affect the Fund’s performance. During the most recent fiscal
year, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 36% of the average
value of its portfolio, excluding the value of portfolio securities received or
delivered as a result of in-kind creations or redemptions of the Fund’s capital
shares.
Principal Investment Strategies of the
Fund
The Fund employs a “passive
management” – or indexing – investment approach designed to track the
performance of the Index. The Fund generally uses a representative sampling
strategy to achieve its investment objective, meaning it generally will invest
in a sample of the securities in the Index whose risk, return and other
characteristics resemble the risk, return and other characteristics of the Index
as a whole. Under normal circumstances, at least 95% of the Fund’s total assets
(exclusive of collateral held from securities lending) will be invested in
component securities of the Index and investments that have economic
characteristics that are substantially identical to the economic characteristics
of such component securities.
The Index is a
fundamentally weighted index that is comprised of companies with high dividend
yields selected from the WisdomTree International Equity Index, which defines
the dividend-paying universe of companies in the industrialized world, excluding
Canada and the United States. To be eligible for inclusion in the Index, a
company must meet the following criteria as of the annual Index screening date:
(i) incorporation in one of 15 developed European countries (Austria, Belgium,
Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway,
Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, or the United Kingdom), Israel, Japan,
Australia, Hong Kong or Singapore; (ii) payment of at least $5 million in cash
dividends on shares of common stock during the preceding annual cycle; (iii)
market capitalization of at least $200 million; (iv) median daily dollar trading
volume of at least $200,000 for the preceding three months; and (v) trading of
at least 250,000 shares per month for each of the preceding six months.
Securities eligible for inclusion in the Index are ranked by dividend yield as
adjusted by a composite risk score based on fundamental valuation, quality and
momentum characteristics. Securities ranking in the highest 30% by dividend
yield and top 80% by composite risk score are selected for inclusion in the
Index. If a company currently in the Index is no longer ranked in the top 30% by
dividend yield at the time of the annual Index screening date but remains ranked
in the top 35% by dividend yield, the company will remain in the
Index.
8 WisdomTree
Trust Prospectus |
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Securities are weighted in
the Index based on dividends paid over the prior annual cycle. Companies that
pay a greater total dollar amount of dividends are more heavily weighted. To
derive a company’s initial Index weight, (i) multiply the U.S. dollar
value of the company’s annual gross dividend per share by the number of common
shares outstanding for that company (the “Cash Dividend Factor”); (ii) calculate
the Cash Dividend Factor for each company; (iii) add together all of the
companies’ Cash Dividend Factors; and (iv) divide the company’s Cash
Dividend Factor by the sum of all Cash Dividend Factors. At the time of the
Index’s annual screening date, the maximum weight of any security in the Index
is capped at 5%. On the Index’s annual screening date, the Index caps the weight
of components exposed to any one country and any one sector (except for the real
estate sector) at 25%. The weight of components exposed to the real estate
sector is capped at 15%. The Index also may adjust the weight of individual
components on the annual screening date based on certain quantitative thresholds
or limits tied to key metrics of a component security, such as its trading
volume. To the extent the Index reduces an individual component’s weight, the
excess weight will be reallocated pro rata among the other components.
Similarly, if the Index increases a component’s weight, the weight of the other
components will be reduced on a pro rata basis to contribute the weight needed
for such increase. The weight of a sector, country, or individual component in
the Index may fluctuate above or below specified caps and thresholds,
respectively, between screening dates in response to market conditions.
WisdomTree, Inc. (“WisdomTree”), as Index provider,
currently uses the Global Industry Classification Standard (GICS®), a
widely recognized industry classification methodology developed by MSCI, Inc.
and Standard & Poor’s Financial Services LLC, to define companies within a
sector. The following sectors are included in the Index: communication services,
consumer discretionary, consumer staples, energy, financials, health care,
industrials, information technology, materials, real estate, and utilities. A
sector is comprised of multiple industries. For example, the energy sector is
comprised of companies in the energy equipment and services industry as well as
the oil, gas and consumable fuels industry. As of June 30, 2023, companies in
the financials and materials sectors comprised a significant portion
(i.e., in excess of 15% of the Index’s total weighting) of the Index;
however, the Index's sector exposure may change from time to time.
To the extent the Index concentrates
(i.e., holds 25% or more of its total assets) in the securities of a
particular industry or group of industries, the Fund will concentrate its
investments to approximately the same extent as the Index.
As of June 30, 2023, the
equity securities of companies domiciled in or otherwise tied to Australia and
Europe, particularly the United Kingdom, comprised a significant portion
(i.e., in excess of 15% of the Index’s total weighting) of the Index,
although the Index’s geographic exposure may change from time to
time.
Principal Risks of Investing in the
Fund
You can lose money on your investment in
the Fund. While certain of the risks are prioritized in
terms of their relevance to the Fund’s investment strategies, most risks are
presented in alphabetical order. This ordering approach is designed to both
facilitate an investor’s understanding of the Fund’s risks and enable an
investor to easily locate and compare risks among funds. Each risk summarized
below is considered a “principal risk” of investing in the Fund, regardless of
the order in which it appears. Some or all of these risks may adversely affect
the Fund’s net asset value per share (“NAV”), trading price, yield, total return
and/or ability to meet its objective. For more information about the risks of
investing in the Fund, see the sections in the Fund’s Prospectus titled
“Additional Principal Risk Information About the Funds” and “Additional
Non-Principal Risk Information.”
■ |
Foreign Securities
Risk. Investments in non-U.S. securities involve political,
regulatory, and economic risks that may not be present in U.S. securities.
For example, investments in non-U.S. securities may be subject to risk of
loss due to foreign currency fluctuations, political or economic
instability, or geographic events that adversely impact issuers of foreign
securities. Investments in non-U.S. securities also may be subject to
withholding or other taxes and may be subject to additional trading,
settlement, custodial, and operational risks. These and other factors can
make investments in the Fund more volatile and potentially less liquid
than other types of investments and may be heightened in connection with
investments in developing or emerging markets
countries. |
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WisdomTree Trust Prospectus 9 |
■ |
Dividend Paying Securities
Risk. Securities that pay dividends, as a group, may be out of favor
with the market and underperform the overall equity market or stocks of
companies that do not pay dividends. In addition, changes in the dividend
policies of the companies held by the Fund or the capital resources
available for such company’s dividend payments may adversely affect the
Fund. |
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■ |
Investment Risk. As
with all investments, an investment in the Fund is subject to loss,
including the possible loss of the entire principal amount of an
investment, over short or long periods of
time. |
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■ |
Market Risk. The
trading prices of equity securities and other instruments fluctuate in
response to a variety of factors, such as economic, financial or political
events that impact the entire market, market segments, or specific
issuers. The Fund’s NAV and market price may fluctuate significantly in
response to these and other factors. As a result, an investor could lose
money over short or long periods of time. |
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■ |
Shares of the Fund May
Trade at Prices Other Than NAV. As with all exchange-traded funds
(“ETFs”), Fund shares may be bought and sold in the secondary market at
market prices. The market prices of the Fund’s shares in the secondary
market generally differ from the Fund’s daily NAV, and there may be times
when the market price of the shares is more than the NAV (premium) or less
than the NAV (discount). This risk is heightened in times of market
volatility or periods of steep market declines. Because securities held by
the Fund trade on, or have exposure to, foreign exchanges that are closed
when the Fund’s primary listing exchange is open, the Fund is likely to
experience premiums and discounts greater than those of domestic ETFs.
Additionally, in stressed market conditions, the market for the Fund’s
shares may become less liquid in response to deteriorating liquidity in
the markets for the Fund’s underlying portfolio
holdings. |
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■ |
Currency Exchange Rate
Risk. Changes in currency exchange rates and the relative value of
non-U.S. currencies will affect the value of the Fund’s investment and the
value of your Fund shares. Currency exchange rates can be very volatile
and can change quickly and unpredictably. As a result, the value of an
investment in the Fund may also change quickly, unpredictably, and without
warning, and you may lose money. |
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■ |
Cybersecurity Risk. The
Fund and its service providers may be susceptible to operational and
information security risks resulting from a breach in cybersecurity,
including cyber-attacks. A breach in cybersecurity, intentional or
unintentional, may adversely impact the Fund in many ways, including, but
not limited to, disruption of the Fund’s operational capacity, loss of
proprietary information, theft or corruption of data, denial-of-service
attacks on websites or network resources, and the unauthorized release of
confidential information. Cyber-attacks affecting the Fund’s third-party
service providers, market makers, institutional investors authorized to
purchase and redeem shares directly from the Fund (i.e., Authorized
Participants), or the issuers of securities in which the Fund invests may
subject the Fund to many of the same risks associated with direct
cybersecurity breaches. |
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■ |
Financials Sector Risk.
The Fund currently invests a significant portion of its assets in the
financials sector, and therefore, the Fund’s performance could be
negatively impacted by events affecting this sector. The financials sector
includes, for example, companies engaged in banking, financial services,
consumer finance, capital markets and insurance activities as well as
financial exchanges, financial data providers and mortgage real estate
investment trusts. This sector can be significantly affected by, among
other things, changes in interest rates, government regulation, the rate
of defaults on corporate, consumer and government debt, and the
availability and cost of capital. |
|
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■ |
Geographic Investment
Risk. To the extent the Fund invests a significant portion of its
assets in securities of companies of a single country or region, it is
more likely to be impacted by events or conditions affecting that country
or region. |
Investments in
Australia
The economy of Australia is heavily dependent on the price and
the demand for commodities and natural resources as well as its exports from the
energy, agricultural and mining sectors. Conditions that weaken demand for such
products worldwide could have a negative impact on the Australian economy as a
whole. Australia is also increasingly dependent on the economies of its key
trading partners, including the United States, China, Japan, South Korea, other
Asian and certain European countries.
10 WisdomTree
Trust Prospectus |
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Investments in
Europe
Many European countries are members of the European Union (“EU”)
as well as the European Economic and Monetary Union (“EMU”) and, as a result,
the economies and markets of European countries can be closely connected and
largely interdependent. As such, adverse events in one European country may have
effects across Europe. Investments in Europe are also subject to risks stemming
from the uncertain consequences of the United Kingdom's (“U.K.”) exit of the EU
single market and customs union (“Brexit”). Further, Russia's invasion of the
Ukraine, and the continued hostilities in the region, have caused increased
volatility in European markets and led to broad ranging economic sanctions
against Russia. Uncertainties surrounding the duration and potential increased
geographic scope of hostilities may create additional volatility in European and
global markets. Any of the above could have a negative effect on the Fund's
investments in Europe.
Investments in the
United Kingdom
Investments in the United Kingdom (“U.K.”) are subject to
risks associated with uncertainties surrounding Brexit and changes in the
economic health of its primary trade partners across Europe and the United
States. The U.K.'s economy is also heavily dependent on the export of financial
services and may be impacted by a slowdown in the financial services
sector.
■ |
Geopolitical Risk. Some
countries and regions in which the Fund invests have experienced security
concerns, war, threats of war, aggression and/or conflict, terrorism,
economic uncertainty, sanctions or the threat of sanctions, natural and
environmental disasters, the spread of infectious illness, widespread
disease or other public health issues and/or systemic market dislocations
(including due to events outside of such countries or regions) that have
led, and in the future may lead, to increased short-term market volatility
and may have adverse long-term effects on the U.S. and world economies and
markets generally, each of which may negatively impact the Fund’s
investments. |
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■ |
Index and Data Risk.
The Fund is not “actively” managed and seeks to track the price and yield
performance, before fees and expenses, of the Index. The Index may not
perform as intended. The Index provider has the right to make adjustments
to the Index or to cease making the Index available without regard to the
particular interests of the Fund or its shareholders. If the computers or
other facilities of the Index provider, Index calculation agent, data
providers and/or relevant stock exchange malfunction for any reason,
calculation and dissemination of Index values may be delayed and trading
in Fund shares may be suspended for a period of time. Errors in Index
data, Index calculations and/or the construction of the Index may occur
from time to time and may not be identified and/or corrected by the Index
provider, Index calculation agent or other applicable party for a period
of time or at all, which may have an adverse impact on the Fund and its
shareholders. The potential risk of continuing error may be particularly
heightened in the case of the Index, which is generally not used as a
benchmark by other funds or managers. |
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■ |
Investment Style Risk.
The Fund invests in the securities included in, or representative of, the
Index regardless of their investment merit. The Fund does not attempt to
outperform the Index or take defensive positions in declining markets. As
a result, the Fund’s performance may be adversely affected by a general
decline in the market segments relating to the
Index. |
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■ |
Issuer-Specific Risk.
Issuer-specific events, including changes in the actual or perceived
financial condition of an issuer, can have a negative impact on the value
of the Fund. |
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■ |
Large-Capitalization
Investing Risk. The Fund may invest in the securities of
large-capitalization companies. As a result, the Fund’s performance may be
adversely affected if securities of these companies underperform
securities of smaller capitalization companies or the market as a whole.
Large-capitalization companies may adapt more slowly to new competitive
challenges and be subject to slower growth during times of economic
expansion. |
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■ |
Materials Sector Risk.
The Fund currently invests a significant portion of its assets in the
basic materials sector. This sector includes, for example, metals and
mining, chemicals, construction materials, glass, paper and related
packaging products and forest product companies. This sector can be
significantly affected by, among other things, commodity price volatility,
demand for basic materials, world economic growth, depletion of natural
resources, technological progress, and government
regulations. |
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■ |
Non-Correlation Risk.
As with all index funds, the performance of the Fund and that of its Index
may differ from each other for a variety of reasons. For example, the Fund
incurs operating expenses and portfolio transaction costs, while also
managing cash flows and potential operational inefficiencies, not incurred
by its Index. In addition, when markets are volatile, the ability to sell
securities at fair market prices may be adversely affected and may result
in additional trading costs and/or increase the non-correlation risk. The
Fund's use of sampling techniques also may affect its ability to achieve
close correlation with its
Index. |
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WisdomTree Trust Prospectus 11 |
■ |
Non-Diversification
Risk. The Fund is considered to be non-diversified, which means that
it may invest more of its assets in the securities of a single issuer or a
smaller number of issuers than if it were a diversified fund. To the
extent the Fund invests a significant percentage of its assets in a
limited number of issuers, the Fund is subject to the risks of investing
in those few issuers, and may be more susceptible to a single adverse
economic or regulatory occurrence. As a result, changes in the market
value of a single security could cause greater fluctuations in the value
of Fund shares than would occur in a diversified
fund. |
Fund
Performance
Historical Fund
performance, which varies over time, can provide an indication of the risks of
investing in the Fund. The bar chart that follows shows the annual total returns
of the Fund for each full calendar year since the Fund commenced operations, or
the past 10 calendar years, as applicable. The table that
follows the bar chart shows the Fund’s average annual total returns, both before
and after taxes. This table also shows how the Fund’s performance compares to
the Index and the MSCI EAFE Value Index, a relevant broad-based securities
index. Index returns do not reflect deductions for fees, expenses or taxes. All
returns assume reinvestment of dividends and distributions. The Fund’s past performance
(before and after taxes) is not necessarily an indication of how the Fund will
perform in the future. Updated performance information
for the Fund is available online on the Fund’s website at www.wisdomtree.com/investments.
Year |
Return |
2013 |
23.15% |
2014 |
-4.47% |
2015 |
-6.98% |
2016 |
5.10% |
2017 |
20.33% |
2018 |
-12.57% |
2019 |
17.74% |
2020 |
-7.05% |
2021 |
8.62% |
2022 |
-2.12% |
The Fund’s
year-to-date total return
as of June 30,
2023 was 6.91%.
Best and Worst Quarter
Returns (for the periods reflected in the bar chart above)
|
Return |
Quarter/Year |
Highest
Return |
19.04% |
4Q/2022 December 31,
2022 |
Lowest
Return |
(29.07)% |
1Q/2020 March 31,
2020 |
After-tax returns are
calculated using the highest historical individual federal marginal income tax
rates and do not reflect the impact of state and local
taxes. Actual after-tax returns
depend on your tax situation and may differ from those shown and are not
relevant if you hold your shares through tax-deferred arrangements, such as
401(k) plans or individual retirement accounts. In some cases, the return
after taxes may exceed the return before taxes due to an assumed tax benefit
from any losses on a sale of Fund shares at the end of the measurement
period.
Average Annual Total Returns for the periods
ending December 31, 2022
WisdomTree International
High Dividend Fund |
1 Year |
5 Years |
10 Years |
Return Before Taxes Based on
NAV |
(2.12)% |
0.34% |
3.48% |
Return After Taxes on
Distributions |
(3.41)% |
(0.70)% |
2.34% |
Return After Taxes on
Distributions and Sale of Fund Shares |
(0.34)% |
0.26% |
2.60% |
WisdomTree International High
Dividend Index (Reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or
taxes) |
(1.92)% |
0.63% |
3.79% |
MSCI EAFE Value Index
(Reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes) |
(5.58)% |
0.17% |
3.51% |
12 WisdomTree
Trust Prospectus |
|
|
Management
Investment Adviser and
Sub-Adviser
WisdomTree Asset
Management, Inc. (“WisdomTree Asset Management” or the “Adviser”) serves as
investment adviser to the Fund. Mellon Investments Corporation (the
“Sub-Adviser”) serves as sub-adviser to the Fund.
Portfolio
Managers
The Fund is managed by the
Sub-Adviser’s Equity Index Strategies Portfolio Management team. The individual
members of the team jointly and primarily responsible for the day-to-day
management of the Fund’s portfolio are identified below.
Marlene Walker-Smith, a
Director, Head of Equity Index Portfolio Management, has been a portfolio
manager of the Fund since October 2020.
David France, CFA, a Vice
President, Senior Portfolio Manager and Team Manager, has been a portfolio
manager of the Fund since June 2021.
Todd Frysinger, CFA, a Vice
President, Senior Portfolio Manager and Team Manager, has been a portfolio
manager of the Fund since June 2021.
Vlasta Sheremeta, CFA, a
Vice President, Senior Portfolio Manager and Team Manager, has been a portfolio
manager of the Fund since June 2021.
Michael Stoll, a Vice
President, Senior Portfolio Manager and Team Manager, has been a portfolio
manager of the Fund since June 2021.
Buying and Selling Fund
Shares
The Fund is an ETF. This
means that individual shares of the Fund are listed on a national securities
exchange, such as NYSE Arca, and may only be purchased and sold in the secondary
market through a broker-dealer at market prices. Because Fund shares trade at
market prices rather than NAV, shares may trade at a price greater than NAV
(premium) or less than NAV (discount). In addition, an investor may incur costs
attributable to the difference between the highest price a buyer is willing to
pay to purchase shares (bid) and the lowest price a seller is willing to accept
for shares (ask) when buying and selling shares in the secondary market (the
“bid/ask spread”). Recent information regarding the Fund, including its NAV,
market price, premiums and discounts, and bid/ask spreads, is available on the
Fund’s website at www.wisdomtree.com/investments.
The Fund issues and redeems
shares at NAV only in large blocks of shares (“Creation Units”), which only
certain institutions or large investors (typically market makers or other
broker-dealers) may purchase or redeem. The Fund issues and redeems Creation
Units in exchange for a portfolio of securities and/or U.S. cash.
Tax Information
The Fund intends to make
distributions that may be taxed as ordinary income, qualified dividend income,
or capital gains.
Payments to
Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries
If you purchase shares of
the Fund through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a
bank) (an “Intermediary”), WisdomTree Asset Management or its affiliates may pay
Intermediaries for certain activities related to the Fund, including
participation in activities that are designed to make Intermediaries more
knowledgeable about exchange-traded products, including the Fund, or for other
activities, such as marketing, educational training or other initiatives related
to the sale or promotion of Fund shares. These payments may create a conflict of
interest by influencing the Intermediary and your salesperson to recommend the
Fund over another investment. Any such arrangements do not result in increased
Fund expenses. Ask your salesperson or visit the Intermediary’s website for more
information.
|
|
WisdomTree Trust Prospectus 13 |
WisdomTree International LargeCap Dividend
Fund
Investment
Objective
The WisdomTree International
LargeCap Dividend Fund (the “Fund”) seeks to track the price and yield
performance, before fees and expenses, of the WisdomTree International LargeCap
Dividend Index (the “Index”).
Fees and Expenses of the
Fund
The following table describes
the fees and expenses you may pay if you buy, hold and sell shares of the Fund.
You may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to
financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the table and example
below. The fees are expressed as a percentage of the Fund’s average net
assets.
Shareholder Fees (fees paid
directly from your investment) |
None |
Annual Fund Operating Expenses
(expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your
investment) |
|
Management Fees |
0.48% |
Distribution and/or Service
(12b-1) Fees |
None |
Other Expenses |
0.00%1 |
Total Annual Fund Operating
Expenses |
0.48%1 |
1 |
Excludes expenses associated
with the collection of additional European Union tax reclaims resulting
from European Court of Justice rulings in several court cases in certain
countries across the European Union. If these expenses were included,
“Other Expenses” would be 0.01% and “Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses”
would be 0.49%. |
Example
The following example is
intended to help retail investors compare the cost of investing in the Fund with
the cost of investing in other funds. It illustrates the hypothetical expenses
that such investors would incur over various periods if they were to invest
$10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated and then redeem all of their
shares at the end of those periods. This example assumes that the Fund provides
a return of 5% a year and that operating expenses remain the same. This example
does not include the brokerage commissions that retail investors may pay to buy
and sell shares of the Fund. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower,
based on these assumptions, your costs would be:
|
1 Year |
3 Years |
5 Years |
10 Years |
|
$ 49 |
$ 154 |
$ 269 |
$ 604 |
Portfolio
Turnover
The Fund pays transaction
costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over”
its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction
costs and may result in higher taxes when Fund shares are held in a taxable
account. These costs, which are not reflected in annual fund operating expenses
or in the example, affect the Fund’s performance. During the most recent fiscal
year, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 23% of the average
value of its portfolio, excluding the value of portfolio securities received or
delivered as a result of in-kind creations or redemptions of the Fund’s capital
shares.
Principal Investment Strategies of the
Fund
The Fund employs a “passive
management” – or indexing – investment approach designed to track the
performance of the Index. The Fund generally uses a representative sampling
strategy to achieve its investment objective, meaning it generally will invest
in a sample of the securities in the Index whose risk, return and other
characteristics resemble the risk, return and other characteristics of the Index
as a whole. Under normal circumstances, at least 95% of the Fund’s total assets
(exclusive of collateral held from securities lending) will be invested in
component securities of the Index and investments that have economic
characteristics that are substantially identical to the economic characteristics
of such component securities.
The Index is a
fundamentally weighted index that is comprised of the large-capitalization
segment of the dividend-paying market in the industrialized world outside the
U.S. and Canada. Constituent companies are selected from the WisdomTree
International Equity Index, which defines the dividend-paying universe of
companies in the industrialized world, excluding Canada and the United States.
The Index is comprised of the 300 largest companies ranked by market
capitalization from the WisdomTree International Equity Index, as of the annual
Index screening date. As of June 30, 2023, the Index had a market capitalization
range from $2.8 billion to $466.3 billion, with an average market capitalization
of $51.7 billion. To be eligible for inclusion in the Index, a company must meet
the following criteria as of the annual Index screening date: (i) incorporation
in one of 15 developed European countries (Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland,
France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden,
Switzerland, or the United Kingdom), Israel, Japan, Australia, Hong Kong or
Singapore; (ii) payment of at least $5 million in cash dividends on shares of
common stock during the preceding annual cycle; (iii) market capitalization of
at least $100 million; (iv) median daily dollar trading volume of at least
$100,000 for the preceding three months; and (v) trading of at least 250,000
shares per month for each of the preceding six months.
14 WisdomTree
Trust Prospectus |
|
|
Securities are weighted in
the Index based on dividends paid over the prior annual cycle. Companies that
pay a greater total dollar amount of dividends are more heavily weighted. To
derive a company’s initial Index weight, (i) multiply the U.S. dollar
value of the company’s annual gross dividend per share by the number of common
shares outstanding for that company (the “Cash Dividend Factor”); (ii) calculate
the Cash Dividend Factor for each company; (iii) add together all of the
companies’ Cash Dividend Factors; and (iv) divide the company’s Cash
Dividend Factor by the sum of all Cash Dividend Factors. On the Index’s annual
screening date, the Index caps the weight of components exposed to any one
country and any one sector (except for the real estate sector) at 25%. The
weight of components exposed to the real estate sector is capped at 15%. The
Index also may adjust the weight of individual components on the annual
screening date based on certain quantitative thresholds or limits tied to key
metrics of a component security, such as its trading volume. To the extent the
Index reduces an individual component’s weight, the excess weight will be
reallocated pro rata among the other components. Similarly, if the Index
increases a component’s weight, the weight of the other components will be
reduced on a pro rata basis to contribute the weight needed for such increase.
The weight of a sector, country, or individual component in the Index may
fluctuate above or below specified caps and thresholds, respectively, between
screening dates in response to market conditions.
WisdomTree, Inc. (“WisdomTree”), as Index provider,
currently uses the Global Industry Classification Standard (GICS®), a
widely recognized industry classification methodology developed by MSCI, Inc.
and Standard & Poor’s Financial Services LLC, to define companies within a
sector. The following sectors are included in the Index: communication services,
consumer discretionary, consumer staples, energy, financials, health care,
industrials, information technology, materials, real estate, and utilities. A
sector is comprised of multiple industries. For example, the energy sector is
comprised of companies in the energy equipment and services industry as well as
the oil, gas and consumable fuels industry. As of June 30, 2023, companies in
the financials sector comprised a significant portion (i.e., in excess of
15% of the Index’s total weighting) of the Index; however, the Index's sector
exposure may change from time to time.
To the extent the Index concentrates
(i.e., holds 25% or more of its total assets) in the securities of a
particular industry or group of industries, the Fund will concentrate its
investments to approximately the same extent as the Index.
As of June 30, 2023, the
equity securities of companies domiciled in or otherwise tied to Japan and
Europe, particularly the United Kingdom, comprised a significant portion
(i.e., in excess of 15% of the Index’s total weighting) of the Index,
although the Index’s geographic exposure may change from time to
time.
Principal Risks of Investing in the
Fund
You can lose money on your investment in
the Fund. While certain of the risks are prioritized in
terms of their relevance to the Fund’s investment strategies, most risks are
presented in alphabetical order. This ordering approach is designed to both
facilitate an investor’s understanding of the Fund’s risks and enable an
investor to easily locate and compare risks among funds. Each risk summarized
below is considered a “principal risk” of investing in the Fund, regardless of
the order in which it appears. Some or all of these risks may adversely affect
the Fund’s net asset value per share (“NAV”), trading price, yield, total return
and/or ability to meet its objective. For more information about the risks of
investing in the Fund, see the sections in the Fund’s Prospectus titled
“Additional Principal Risk Information About the Funds” and “Additional
Non-Principal Risk Information.”
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Foreign Securities
Risk. Investments in non-U.S. securities involve political,
regulatory, and economic risks that may not be present in U.S. securities.
For example, investments in non-U.S. securities may be subject to risk of
loss due to foreign currency fluctuations, political or economic
instability, or geographic events that adversely impact issuers of foreign
securities. Investments in non-U.S. securities also may be subject to
withholding or other taxes and may be subject to additional trading,
settlement, custodial, and operational risks. These and other factors can
make investments in the Fund more volatile and potentially less liquid
than other types of investments and may be heightened in connection with
investments in developing or emerging markets
countries. |
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WisdomTree Trust Prospectus 15 |
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Large-Capitalization
Investing Risk. The Fund invests primarily in the securities of
large-capitalization companies. As a result, the Fund’s performance may be
adversely affected if securities of these companies underperform
securities of smaller capitalization companies or the market as a whole.
Large-capitalization companies may adapt more slowly to new competitive
challenges and be subject to slower growth during times of economic
expansion. |
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Dividend Paying Securities
Risk. Securities that pay dividends, as a group, may be out of favor
with the market and underperform the overall equity market or stocks of
companies that do not pay dividends. In addition, changes in the dividend
policies of the companies held by the Fund or the capital resources
available for such company’s dividend payments may adversely affect the
Fund. |
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Investment Risk. As
with all investments, an investment in the Fund is subject to loss,
including the possible loss of the entire principal amount of an
investment, over short or long periods of
time. |
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Market Risk. The
trading prices of equity securities and other instruments fluctuate in
response to a variety of factors, such as economic, financial or political
events that impact the entire market, market segments, or specific
issuers. The Fund’s NAV and market price may fluctuate significantly in
response to these and other factors. As a result, an investor could lose
money over short or long periods of time. |
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Shares of the Fund May
Trade at Prices Other Than NAV. As with all exchange-traded funds
(“ETFs”), Fund shares may be bought and sold in the secondary market at
market prices. The market prices of the Fund’s shares in the secondary
market generally differ from the Fund’s daily NAV, and there may be times
when the market price of the shares is more than the NAV (premium) or less
than the NAV (discount). This risk is heightened in times of market
volatility or periods of steep market declines. Because securities held by
the Fund trade on, or have exposure to, foreign exchanges that are closed
when the Fund’s primary listing exchange is open, the Fund is likely to
experience premiums and discounts greater than those of domestic ETFs.
Additionally, in stressed market conditions, the market for the Fund’s
shares may become less liquid in response to deteriorating liquidity in
the markets for the Fund’s underlying portfolio
holdings. |
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Currency Exchange Rate
Risk. Changes in currency exchange rates and the relative value of
non-U.S. currencies will affect the value of the Fund’s investment and the
value of your Fund shares. Currency exchange rates can be very volatile
and can change quickly and unpredictably. As a result, the value of an
investment in the Fund may also change quickly, unpredictably, and without
warning, and you may lose money. |
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Cybersecurity Risk. The
Fund and its service providers may be susceptible to operational and
information security risks resulting from a breach in cybersecurity,
including cyber-attacks. A breach in cybersecurity, intentional or
unintentional, may adversely impact the Fund in many ways, including, but
not limited to, disruption of the Fund’s operational capacity, loss of
proprietary information, theft or corruption of data, denial-of-service
attacks on websites or network resources, and the unauthorized release of
confidential information. Cyber-attacks affecting the Fund’s third-party
service providers, market makers, institutional investors authorized to
purchase and redeem shares directly from the Fund (i.e., Authorized
Participants), or the issuers of securities in which the Fund invests may
subject the Fund to many of the same risks associated with direct
cybersecurity breaches. |
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Financials Sector Risk.
The Fund currently invests a significant portion of its assets in the
financials sector, and therefore, the Fund’s performance could be
negatively impacted by events affecting this sector. The financials sector
includes, for example, companies engaged in banking, financial services,
consumer finance, capital markets and insurance activities as well as
financial exchanges, financial data providers and mortgage real estate
investment trusts. This sector can be significantly affected by, among
other things, changes in interest rates, government regulation, the rate
of defaults on corporate, consumer and government debt, and the
availability and cost of capital. |
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Geographic Investment
Risk. To the extent the Fund invests a significant portion of its
assets in securities of companies of a single country or region, it is
more likely to be impacted by events or conditions affecting that country
or region. |
Investments in
Japan
Investments in Japan are subject to risks associated with its
economy's dependence on the export market and consistent government support of
its export market. Slowdowns in the Japanese export market may have a negative
impact on the Japanese economy as a whole. Japan is also subject to risks
associated with natural disasters and escalating political tension in the
region.
16 WisdomTree
Trust Prospectus |
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Investments in
Europe
Many European countries are members of the European Union (“EU”)
as well as the European Economic and Monetary Union (“EMU”) and, as a result,
the economies and markets of European countries can be closely connected and
largely interdependent. As such, adverse events in one European country may have
effects across Europe. Investments in Europe are also subject to risks stemming
from the uncertain consequences of the United Kingdom's (“U.K.”) exit of the EU
single market and customs union (“Brexit”). Further, Russia's invasion of the
Ukraine, and the continued hostilities in the region, have caused increased
volatility in European markets and led to broad ranging economic sanctions
against Russia. Uncertainties surrounding the duration and potential increased
geographic scope of hostilities may create additional volatility in European and
global markets. Any of the above could have a negative effect on the Fund's
investments in Europe.
Investments in the
United Kingdom
Investments in the United Kingdom (“U.K.”) are subject to
risks associated with uncertainties surrounding Brexit and changes in the
economic health of its primary trade partners across Europe and the United
States. The U.K.'s economy is also heavily dependent on the export of financial
services and may be impacted by a slowdown in the financial services
sector.
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Geopolitical Risk. Some
countries and regions in which the Fund invests have experienced security
concerns, war, threats of war, aggression and/or conflict, terrorism,
economic uncertainty, sanctions or the threat of sanctions, natural and
environmental disasters, the spread of infectious illness, widespread
disease or other public health issues and/or systemic market dislocations
(including due to events outside of such countries or regions) that have
led, and in the future may lead, to increased short-term market volatility
and may have adverse long-term effects on the U.S. and world economies and
markets generally, each of which may negatively impact the Fund’s
investments. |
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Index and Data Risk.
The Fund is not “actively” managed and seeks to track the price and yield
performance, before fees and expenses, of the Index. The Index may not
perform as intended. The Index provider has the right to make adjustments
to the Index or to cease making the Index available without regard to the
particular interests of the Fund or its shareholders. If the computers or
other facilities of the Index provider, Index calculation agent, data
providers and/or relevant stock exchange malfunction for any reason,
calculation and dissemination of Index values may be delayed and trading
in Fund shares may be suspended for a period of time. Errors in Index
data, Index calculations and/or the construction of the Index may occur
from time to time and may not be identified and/or corrected by the Index
provider, Index calculation agent or other applicable party for a period
of time or at all, which may have an adverse impact on the Fund and its
shareholders. The potential risk of continuing error may be particularly
heightened in the case of the Index, which is generally not used as a
benchmark by other funds or managers. |
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Investment Style Risk.
The Fund invests in the securities included in, or representative of, the
Index regardless of their investment merit. The Fund does not attempt to
outperform the Index or take defensive positions in declining markets. As
a result, the Fund’s performance may be adversely affected by a general
decline in the market segments relating to the
Index. |
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Issuer-Specific Risk.
Issuer-specific events, including changes in the actual or perceived
financial condition of an issuer, can have a negative impact on the value
of the Fund. |
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Non-Correlation Risk.
As with all index funds, the performance of the Fund and that of its Index
may differ from each other for a variety of reasons. For example, the Fund
incurs operating expenses and portfolio transaction costs, while also
managing cash flows and potential operational inefficiencies, not incurred
by its Index. In addition, when markets are volatile, the ability to sell
securities at fair market prices may be adversely affected and may result
in additional trading costs and/or increase the non-correlation risk. The
Fund's use of sampling techniques also may affect its ability to achieve
close correlation with its Index. |
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Non-Diversification
Risk. The Fund is considered to be non-diversified, which means that
it may invest more of its assets in the securities of a single issuer or a
smaller number of issuers than if it were a diversified fund. To the
extent the Fund invests a significant percentage of its assets in a
limited number of issuers, the Fund is subject to the risks of investing
in those few issuers, and may be more susceptible to a single adverse
economic or regulatory occurrence. As a result, changes in the market
value of a single security could cause greater fluctuations in the value
of Fund shares than would occur in a diversified
fund. |
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WisdomTree Trust Prospectus 17 |
Fund
Performance
Historical Fund
performance, which varies over time, can provide an indication of the risks of
investing in the Fund. The bar chart that follows shows the annual total returns
of the Fund for each full calendar year since the Fund commenced operations, or
the past 10 calendar years, as applicable. The table that
follows the bar chart shows the Fund’s average annual total returns, both before
and after taxes. This table also shows how the Fund’s performance compares to
the Index and the MSCI EAFE Index, a relevant broad-based securities index. In
addition, performance also is shown for the MSCI EAFE Value Index, another
comparative index that also represents the asset class in which the Fund
invests. Index returns do not reflect deductions for fees, expenses or taxes.
All returns assume reinvestment of dividends and distributions. The Fund’s past performance
(before and after taxes) is not necessarily an indication of how the Fund will
perform in the future. Updated performance information
for the Fund is available online on the Fund’s website at www.wisdomtree.com/investments.
Year |
Return |
2013 |
20.74% |
2014 |
-4.24% |
2015 |
-4.82% |
2016 |
2.80% |
2017 |
21.54% |
2018 |
-12.49% |
2019 |
18.71% |
2020 |
-2.74% |
2021 |
11.06% |
2022 |
-6.73% |
The Fund’s
year-to-date total return
as of June 30,
2023 was 9.85%.
Best and Worst Quarter
Returns (for the periods reflected in the bar chart above)
|
Return |
Quarter/Year |
Highest
Return |
17.80% |
4Q/2022 December
31,2022 |
Lowest
Return |
(24.30)% |
1Q/2020 March 31,
2020 |
After-tax returns are
calculated using the highest historical individual federal marginal income tax
rates and do not reflect the impact of state and local
taxes. Actual after-tax returns
depend on your tax situation and may differ from those shown and are not
relevant if you hold your shares through tax-deferred arrangements, such as
401(k) plans or individual retirement accounts. In some cases, the return
after taxes may exceed the return before taxes due to an assumed tax benefit
from any losses on a sale of Fund shares at the end of the measurement
period.
Average Annual Total Returns for the periods
ending December 31, 2022
WisdomTree International
LargeCap Dividend Fund |
1 Year |
5 Years |
10 Years |
Return Before Taxes Based on
NAV |
(6.73)% |
0.91% |
3.71% |
Return After Taxes on
Distributions |
(7.65)% |
0.12% |
2.80% |
Return After Taxes on
Distributions and Sale of Fund Shares |
(3.24)% |
0.75% |
2.84% |
WisdomTree International
LargeCap Dividend Index (Reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or
taxes) |
(6.63)% |
1.15% |
3.99% |
MSCI EAFE Index (Reflects no
deduction for fees, expenses or taxes) |
(14.45)% |
1.54% |
4.67% |
MSCI EAFE Value Index
(Reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes) |
(5.58)% |
0.17% |
3.51% |
Management
Investment Adviser and
Sub-Adviser
WisdomTree Asset
Management, Inc. (“WisdomTree Asset Management” or the “Adviser”) serves as
investment adviser to the Fund. Mellon Investments Corporation (the
“Sub-Adviser”) serves as sub-adviser to the Fund.
18 WisdomTree
Trust Prospectus |
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Portfolio
Managers
The Fund is managed by the
Sub-Adviser’s Equity Index Strategies Portfolio Management team. The individual
members of the team jointly and primarily responsible for the day-to-day
management of the Fund’s portfolio are identified below.
Marlene Walker-Smith, a
Director, Head of Equity Index Portfolio Management, has been a portfolio
manager of the Fund since October 2020.
David France, CFA, a Vice
President, Senior Portfolio Manager and Team Manager, has been a portfolio
manager of the Fund since June 2021.
Todd Frysinger, CFA, a Vice
President, Senior Portfolio Manager and Team Manager, has been a portfolio
manager of the Fund since June 2021.
Vlasta Sheremeta, CFA, a
Vice President, Senior Portfolio Manager and Team Manager, has been a portfolio
manager of the Fund since June 2021.
Michael Stoll, a Vice
President, Senior Portfolio Manager and Team Manager, has been a portfolio
manager of the Fund since June 2021.
Buying and Selling Fund
Shares
The Fund is an ETF. This
means that individual shares of the Fund are listed on a national securities
exchange, such as NYSE Arca, and may only be purchased and sold in the secondary
market through a broker-dealer at market prices. Because Fund shares trade at
market prices rather than NAV, shares may trade at a price greater than NAV
(premium) or less than NAV (discount). In addition, an investor may incur costs
attributable to the difference between the highest price a buyer is willing to
pay to purchase shares (bid) and the lowest price a seller is willing to accept
for shares (ask) when buying and selling shares in the secondary market (the
“bid/ask spread”). Recent information regarding the Fund, including its NAV,
market price, premiums and discounts, and bid/ask spreads, is available on the
Fund’s website at www.wisdomtree.com/investments.
The Fund issues and redeems
shares at NAV only in large blocks of shares (“Creation Units”), which only
certain institutions or large investors (typically market makers or other
broker-dealers) may purchase or redeem. The Fund issues and redeems Creation
Units in exchange for a portfolio of securities and/or U.S. cash.
Tax Information
The Fund intends to make
distributions that may be taxed as ordinary income, qualified dividend income,
or capital gains.
Payments to
Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries
If you purchase shares of
the Fund through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a
bank) (an “Intermediary”), WisdomTree Asset Management or its affiliates may pay
Intermediaries for certain activities related to the Fund, including
participation in activities that are designed to make Intermediaries more
knowledgeable about exchange-traded products, including the Fund, or for other
activities, such as marketing, educational training or other initiatives related
to the sale or promotion of Fund shares. These payments may create a conflict of
interest by influencing the Intermediary and your salesperson to recommend the
Fund over another investment. Any such arrangements do not result in increased
Fund expenses. Ask your salesperson or visit the Intermediary’s website for more
information.
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WisdomTree Trust Prospectus 19 |
WisdomTree International MidCap Dividend
Fund
Investment
Objective
The WisdomTree International
MidCap Dividend Fund (the “Fund”) seeks to track the price and yield
performance, before fees and expenses, of the WisdomTree International MidCap
Dividend Index (the “Index”).
Fees and Expenses of the
Fund
The following table describes
the fees and expenses you may pay if you buy, hold and sell shares of the Fund.
You may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to
financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the table and example
below. The fees are expressed as a percentage of the Fund’s average net
assets.
Shareholder Fees (fees paid
directly from your investment) |
None |
Annual Fund Operating Expenses
(expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your
investment) |
|
Management Fees |
0.58% |
Distribution and/or Service
(12b-1) Fees |
None |
Other Expenses |
0.00%1 |
Total Annual Fund Operating
Expenses |
0.58%1 |
Example
The following example is
intended to help retail investors compare the cost of investing in the Fund with
the cost of investing in other funds. It illustrates the hypothetical expenses
that such investors would incur over various periods if they were to invest
$10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated and then redeem all of their
shares at the end of those periods. This example assumes that the Fund provides
a return of 5% a year and that operating expenses remain the same. This example
does not include the brokerage commissions that retail investors may pay to buy
and sell shares of the Fund. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower,
based on these assumptions, your costs would be:
|
1 Year |
3 Years |
5 Years |
10 Years |
|
$ 59 |
$ 186 |
$ 324 |
$ 726 |
Portfolio
Turnover
The Fund pays transaction
costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over”
its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction
costs and may result in higher taxes when Fund shares are held in a taxable
account. These costs, which are not reflected in annual fund operating expenses
or in the example, affect the Fund’s performance. During the most recent fiscal
year, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 39% of the average
value of its portfolio, excluding the value of portfolio securities received or
delivered as a result of in-kind creations or redemptions of the Fund’s capital
shares.
Principal Investment Strategies of the
Fund
The Fund employs a “passive
management” – or indexing – investment approach designed to track the
performance of the Index. The Fund generally uses a representative sampling
strategy to achieve its investment objective, meaning it generally will invest
in a sample of the securities in the Index whose risk, return and other
characteristics resemble the risk, return and other characteristics of the Index
as a whole. Under normal circumstances, at least 95% of the Fund’s total assets
(exclusive of collateral held from securities lending) will be invested in
component securities of the Index and investments that have economic
characteristics that are substantially identical to the economic characteristics
of such component securities.
The Index is a
fundamentally weighted index that is comprised of the mid-capitalization segment
of the dividend-paying market in the industrialized world outside the U.S. and
Canada. Constituent companies are selected from the WisdomTree International
Equity Index, which defines the dividend-paying universe of companies in the
industrialized world, excluding Canada and the United States. The Index is
comprised of the companies that compose the top 75% of the market capitalization
of the WisdomTree International Equity Index, as of the annual Index screening
date, after the 300 largest companies have been removed. As of June 30, 2023,
the Index had a market capitalization range from $1.4 billion to $52.8 billion,
with an average market capitalization of $6.2 billion.
20 WisdomTree
Trust Prospectus |
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To be eligible for
inclusion in the Index, a company must meet the following criteria as of the
annual Index screening date: (i) incorporation in one of 15 developed European
countries (Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy,
Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, or the United
Kingdom), Israel, Japan, Australia, Hong Kong or Singapore; (ii) payment of at
least $5 million in cash dividends on shares of common stock during the
preceding annual cycle; (iii) market capitalization of at least $100 million;
(iv) median daily dollar trading volume of at least $100,000 for the preceding
three months; and (v) trading of at least 250,000 shares per month for each of
the preceding six months.
Securities are weighted in
the Index based on dividends paid over the prior annual cycle. Companies that
pay a greater total dollar amount of dividends are more heavily weighted. To
derive a company’s initial Index weight, (i) multiply the U.S. dollar
value of the company’s annual gross dividend per share by the number of common
shares outstanding for that company (the “Cash Dividend Factor”); (ii) calculate
the Cash Dividend Factor for each company; (iii) add together all of the
companies’ Cash Dividend Factors; and (iv) divide the company’s Cash
Dividend Factor by the sum of all Cash Dividend Factors. On the Index’s annual
screening date, the Index caps the weight of components exposed to any one
country and any one sector (except for the real estate sector) at 25%. The
weight of components exposed to the real estate sector is capped at 15%. The
Index also may adjust the weight of individual components on the annual
screening date based on certain quantitative thresholds or limits tied to key
metrics of a component security, such as its trading volume. To the extent the
Index reduces an individual component’s weight, the excess weight will be
reallocated pro rata among the other components. Similarly, if the Index
increases a component’s weight, the weight of the other components will be
reduced on a pro rata basis to contribute the weight needed for such increase.
The weight of a sector, country, or individual component in the Index may
fluctuate above or below specified caps and thresholds, respectively, between
screening dates in response to market conditions.
WisdomTree, Inc. (“WisdomTree”), as Index provider,
currently uses the Global Industry Classification Standard (GICS®), a
widely recognized industry classification methodology developed by MSCI, Inc.
and Standard & Poor’s Financial Services LLC, to define companies within a
sector. The following sectors are included in the Index: communication services,
consumer discretionary, consumer staples, energy, financials, health care,
industrials, information technology, materials, real estate, and utilities. A
sector is comprised of multiple industries. For example, the energy sector is
comprised of companies in the energy equipment and services industry as well as
the oil, gas and consumable fuels industry. As of June 30, 2023, companies in
the industrials and financials sectors comprised a significant portion
(i.e., in excess of 15% of the Index’s total weighting) of the Index;
however, the Index's sector exposure may change from time to time.
To the extent the Index concentrates
(i.e., holds 25% or more of its total assets) in the securities of a
particular industry or group of industries, the Fund will concentrate its
investments to approximately the same extent as the Index.
As of June 30, 2023, the
equity securities of companies domiciled in or otherwise tied to Japan and
Europe (including exposure to the United Kingdom) comprised a significant
portion (i.e., in excess of 15% of the Index’s total weighting) of the
Index, although the Index’s geographic exposure may change from time to
time.
Principal Risks of Investing in the
Fund
You can lose money on your investment in
the Fund. While certain of the risks are prioritized in
terms of their relevance to the Fund’s investment strategies, most risks are
presented in alphabetical order. This ordering approach is designed to both
facilitate an investor’s understanding of the Fund’s risks and enable an
investor to easily locate and compare risks among funds. Each risk summarized
below is considered a “principal risk” of investing in the Fund, regardless of
the order in which it appears. Some or all of these risks may adversely affect
the Fund’s net asset value per share (“NAV”), trading price, yield, total return
and/or ability to meet its objective. For more information about the risks of
investing in the Fund, see the sections in the Fund’s Prospectus titled
“Additional Principal Risk Information About the Funds” and “Additional
Non-Principal Risk Information.”
■ |
Foreign Securities
Risk. Investments in non-U.S. securities involve political,
regulatory, and economic risks that may not be present in U.S. securities.
For example, investments in non-U.S. securities may be subject to risk of
loss due to foreign currency fluctuations, political or economic
instability, or geographic events that adversely impact issuers of foreign
securities. Investments in non-U.S. securities also may be subject to
withholding or other taxes and may be subject to additional trading,
settlement, custodial, and operational risks. These and other factors can
make investments in the Fund more volatile and potentially less liquid
than other types of investments and may be heightened in connection with
investments in developing or emerging markets
countries. |
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WisdomTree Trust Prospectus 21 |
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Mid-Capitalization
Investing Risk. The Fund invests primarily in the securities of
mid-capitalization companies. As a result, the Fund’s performance may be
adversely affected if securities of these companies underperform
securities of other capitalization ranges or the market as a whole.
Securities of mid-capitalization companies are often less stable and more
vulnerable to market volatility and adverse economic developments than
securities of larger companies, but mid-capitalization companies may also
underperform the securities of small-capitalization companies because
medium capitalization companies are more mature and are subject to slower
growth during economic expansion. |
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Dividend Paying Securities
Risk. Securities that pay dividends, as a group, may be out of favor
with the market and underperform the overall equity market or stocks of
companies that do not pay dividends. In addition, changes in the dividend
policies of the companies held by the Fund or the capital resources
available for such company’s dividend payments may adversely affect the
Fund. |
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Investment Risk. As
with all investments, an investment in the Fund is subject to loss,
including the possible loss of the entire principal amount of an
investment, over short or long periods of
time. |
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Market Risk. The
trading prices of equity securities and other instruments fluctuate in
response to a variety of factors, such as economic, financial or political
events that impact the entire market, market segments, or specific
issuers. The Fund’s NAV and market price may fluctuate significantly in
response to these and other factors. As a result, an investor could lose
money over short or long periods of time. |
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Shares of the Fund May
Trade at Prices Other Than NAV. As with all exchange-traded funds
(“ETFs”), Fund shares may be bought and sold in the secondary market at
market prices. The market prices of the Fund’s shares in the secondary
market generally differ from the Fund’s daily NAV, and there may be times
when the market price of the shares is more than the NAV (premium) or less
than the NAV (discount). This risk is heightened in times of market
volatility or periods of steep market declines. Because securities held by
the Fund trade on, or have exposure to, foreign exchanges that are closed
when the Fund’s primary listing exchange is open, the Fund is likely to
experience premiums and discounts greater than those of domestic ETFs.
Additionally, in stressed market conditions, the market for the Fund’s
shares may become less liquid in response to deteriorating liquidity in
the markets for the Fund’s underlying portfolio
holdings. |
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Currency Exchange Rate
Risk. Changes in currency exchange rates and the relative value of
non-U.S. currencies will affect the value of the Fund’s investment and the
value of your Fund shares. Currency exchange rates can be very volatile
and can change quickly and unpredictably. As a result, the value of an
investment in the Fund may also change quickly, unpredictably, and without
warning, and you may lose money. |
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Cybersecurity Risk. The
Fund and its service providers may be susceptible to operational and
information security risks resulting from a breach in cybersecurity,
including cyber-attacks. A breach in cybersecurity, intentional or
unintentional, may adversely impact the Fund in many ways, including, but
not limited to, disruption of the Fund’s operational capacity, loss of
proprietary information, theft or corruption of data, denial-of-service
attacks on websites or network resources, and the unauthorized release of
confidential information. Cyber-attacks affecting the Fund’s third-party
service providers, market makers, institutional investors authorized to
purchase and redeem shares directly from the Fund (i.e., Authorized
Participants), or the issuers of securities in which the Fund invests may
subject the Fund to many of the same risks associated with direct
cybersecurity breaches. |
|
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■ |
Financials Sector Risk.
The Fund currently invests a significant portion of its assets in the
financials sector, and therefore, the Fund’s performance could be
negatively impacted by events affecting this sector. The financials sector
includes, for example, companies engaged in banking, financial services,
consumer finance, capital markets and insurance activities as well as
financial exchanges, financial data providers and mortgage real estate
investment trusts. This sector can be significantly affected by, among
other things, changes in interest rates, government regulation, the rate
of defaults on corporate, consumer and government debt, and the
availability and cost of capital. |
|
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■ |
Geographic Investment
Risk. To the extent the Fund invests a significant portion of its
assets in securities of companies of a single country or region, it is
more likely to be impacted by events or conditions affecting that country
or region. |
Investments in
Japan
Investments in Japan are subject to risks associated with its
economy's dependence on the export market and consistent government support of
its export market. Slowdowns in the Japanese export market may have a negative
impact on the Japanese economy as a whole. Japan is also subject to risks
associated with natural disasters and escalating political tension in the
region.
22 WisdomTree
Trust Prospectus |
|
|
Investments in
Europe
Many European countries are members of the European Union (“EU”)
as well as the European Economic and Monetary Union (“EMU”) and, as a result,
the economies and markets of European countries can be closely connected and
largely interdependent. As such, adverse events in one European country may have
effects across Europe. Investments in Europe are also subject to risks stemming
from the uncertain consequences of the United Kingdom's (“U.K.”) exit of the EU
single market and customs union (“Brexit”). Further, Russia's invasion of the
Ukraine, and the continued hostilities in the region, have caused increased
volatility in European markets and led to broad ranging economic sanctions
against Russia. Uncertainties surrounding the duration and potential increased
geographic scope of hostilities may create additional volatility in European and
global markets. Any of the above could have a negative effect on the Fund's
investments in Europe.
Investments in the
United Kingdom
Investments in the United Kingdom (“U.K.”) are subject to
risks associated with uncertainties surrounding Brexit and changes in the
economic health of its primary trade partners across Europe and the United
States. The U.K.'s economy is also heavily dependent on the export of financial
services and may be impacted by a slowdown in the financial services
sector.
■ |
Geopolitical Risk. Some
countries and regions in which the Fund invests have experienced security
concerns, war, threats of war, aggression and/or conflict, terrorism,
economic uncertainty, sanctions or the threat of sanctions, natural and
environmental disasters, the spread of infectious illness, widespread
disease or other public health issues and/or systemic market dislocations
(including due to events outside of such countries or regions) that have
led, and in the future may lead, to increased short-term market volatility
and may have adverse long-term effects on the U.S. and world economies and
markets generally, each of which may negatively impact the Fund’s
investments. |
|
|
■ |
Index and Data Risk.
The Fund is not “actively” managed and seeks to track the price and yield
performance, before fees and expenses, of the Index. The Index may not
perform as intended. The Index provider has the right to make adjustments
to the Index or to cease making the Index available without regard to the
particular interests of the Fund or its shareholders. If the computers or
other facilities of the Index provider, Index calculation agent, data
providers and/or relevant stock exchange malfunction for any reason,
calculation and dissemination of Index values may be delayed and trading
in Fund shares may be suspended for a period of time. Errors in Index
data, Index calculations and/or the construction of the Index may occur
from time to time and may not be identified and/or corrected by the Index
provider, Index calculation agent or other applicable party for a period
of time or at all, which may have an adverse impact on the Fund and its
shareholders. The potential risk of continuing error may be particularly
heightened in the case of the Index, which is generally not used as a
benchmark by other funds or managers. |
|
|
■ |
Industrials Sector
Risk. The Fund currently invests a significant portion of its assets
in the industrials sector, and therefore the Fund’s performance could be
negatively impacted by events affecting this sector. The industrials
sector includes, for example, aerospace and defense, non-residential
construction, engineering, machinery, transportation, and commercial and
professional services companies. The industrials sector can be
significantly affected by, among other things, business cycle
fluctuations, worldwide economy growth, international political and
economic developments, exchange rates, commodity prices, environmental
issues, government and corporate spending, supply and demand for specific
products and services, rapid technological developments, and government
regulation. |
|
|
■ |
Investment Style Risk.
The Fund invests in the securities included in, or representative of, the
Index regardless of their investment merit. The Fund does not attempt to
outperform the Index or take defensive positions in declining markets. As
a result, the Fund’s performance may be adversely affected by a general
decline in the market segments relating to the
Index. |
|
|
■ |
Issuer-Specific Risk.
Issuer-specific events, including changes in the actual or perceived
financial condition of an issuer, can have a negative impact on the value
of the Fund. |
|
|
■ |
Non-Correlation Risk.
As with all index funds, the performance of the Fund and that of its Index
may differ from each other for a variety of reasons. For example, the Fund
incurs operating expenses and portfolio transaction costs, while also
managing cash flows and potential operational inefficiencies, not incurred
by its Index. In addition, when markets are volatile, the ability to sell
securities at fair market prices may be adversely affected and may result
in additional trading costs and/or increase the non-correlation risk. The
Fund's use of sampling techniques also may affect its ability to achieve
close correlation with its
Index. |
|
|
WisdomTree Trust Prospectus 23 |
■ |
Non-Diversification
Risk. The Fund is considered to be non-diversified, which means that
it may invest more of its assets in the securities of a single issuer or a
smaller number of issuers than if it were a diversified fund. To the
extent the Fund invests a significant percentage of its assets in a
limited number of issuers, the Fund is subject to the risks of investing
in those few issuers, and may be more susceptible to a single adverse
economic or regulatory occurrence. As a result, changes in the market
value of a single security could cause greater fluctuations in the value
of Fund shares than would occur in a diversified
fund. |
Fund
Performance
Historical Fund
performance, which varies over time, can provide an indication of the risks of
investing in the Fund. The bar chart that follows shows the annual total returns
of the Fund for each full calendar year since the Fund commenced operations, or
the past 10 calendar years, as applicable. The table that
follows the bar chart shows the Fund’s average annual total returns, both before
and after taxes. This table also shows how the Fund’s performance compares to
the Index and the MSCI EAFE Mid Cap Index, a relevant broad-based securities
index. In addition, performance also is shown for the MSCI EAFE Mid Cap Value
Index, another comparative index that also represents the asset class in which
the Fund invests. Index returns do not reflect deductions for fees, expenses or
taxes. All returns assume reinvestment of dividends and distributions. The Fund’s past performance
(before and after taxes) is not necessarily an indication of how the Fund will
perform in the future. Updated performance information
for the Fund is available online on the Fund’s website at www.wisdomtree.com/investments.
Year |
Return |
2013 |
21.98% |
2014 |
-1.30% |
2015 |
2.40% |
2016 |
2.22% |
2017 |
28.09% |
2018 |
-15.07% |
2019 |
19.84% |
2020 |
-0.33% |
2021 |
9.23% |
2022 |
-14.31% |
The Fund’s
year-to-date total return
as of June 30,
2023 was 6.34%.
Best and Worst Quarter
Returns (for the periods reflected in the bar chart above)
|
Return |
Quarter/Year |
Highest
Return |
17.16% |
4Q/2022 December 31,
2022 |
Lowest
Return |
(28.48)% |
1Q/2020 March
31,2020 |
After-tax returns are
calculated using the highest historical individual federal marginal income tax
rates and do not reflect the impact of state and local
taxes. Actual after-tax returns
depend on your tax situation and may differ from those shown and are not
relevant if you hold your shares through tax-deferred arrangements, such as
401(k) plans or individual retirement accounts. In some cases, the return
after taxes may exceed the return before taxes due to an assumed tax benefit
from any losses on a sale of Fund shares at the end of the measurement
period.
Average Annual Total Returns for the periods
ending December 31, 2022
WisdomTree International
MidCap Dividend Fund |
1 Year |
5 Years |
10 Years |
Return Before Taxes Based on
NAV |
(14.31)% |
(1.03)% |
4.36% |
Return After Taxes on
Distributions |
(15.08)% |
(1.77)% |
3.56% |
Return After Taxes on
Distributions and Sale of Fund Shares |
(7.89)% |
(0.73)% |
3.40% |
WisdomTree International
MidCap Dividend Index (Reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or
taxes) |
(14.29)% |
(0.62)% |
4.78% |
MSCI EAFE Mid Cap Index
(Reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes) |
(20.33)% |
(0.30)% |
4.99% |
MSCI EAFE Mid Cap Value Index
(Reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes) |
(12.56)% |
(0.86)% |
4.76% |
24 WisdomTree
Trust Prospectus |
|
|
Management
Investment Adviser and
Sub-Adviser
WisdomTree Asset
Management, Inc. (“WisdomTree Asset Management” or the “Adviser”) serves as
investment adviser to the Fund. Mellon Investments Corporation (the
“Sub-Adviser”) serves as sub-adviser to the Fund.
Portfolio
Managers
The Fund is managed by the
Sub-Adviser’s Equity Index Strategies Portfolio Management team. The individual
members of the team jointly and primarily responsible for the day-to-day
management of the Fund’s portfolio are identified below.
Marlene Walker-Smith, a
Director, Head of Equity Index Portfolio Management, has been a portfolio
manager of the Fund since October 2020.
David France, CFA, a Vice
President, Senior Portfolio Manager and Team Manager, has been a portfolio
manager of the Fund since June 2021.
Todd Frysinger, CFA, a Vice
President, Senior Portfolio Manager and Team Manager, has been a portfolio
manager of the Fund since June 2021.
Vlasta Sheremeta, CFA, a
Vice President, Senior Portfolio Manager and Team Manager, has been a portfolio
manager of the Fund since June 2021.
Michael Stoll, a Vice
President, Senior Portfolio Manager and Team Manager, has been a portfolio
manager of the Fund since June 2021.
Buying and Selling Fund
Shares
The Fund is an ETF. This
means that individual shares of the Fund are listed on a national securities
exchange, such as NYSE Arca, and may only be purchased and sold in the secondary
market through a broker-dealer at market prices. Because Fund shares trade at
market prices rather than NAV, shares may trade at a price greater than NAV
(premium) or less than NAV (discount). In addition, an investor may incur costs
attributable to the difference between the highest price a buyer is willing to
pay to purchase shares (bid) and the lowest price a seller is willing to accept
for shares (ask) when buying and selling shares in the secondary market (the
“bid/ask spread”). Recent information regarding the Fund, including its NAV,
market price, premiums and discounts, and bid/ask spreads, is available on the
Fund’s website at www.wisdomtree.com/investments.
The Fund issues and redeems
shares at NAV only in large blocks of shares (“Creation Units”), which only
certain institutions or large investors (typically market makers or other
broker-dealers) may purchase or redeem. The Fund issues and redeems Creation
Units in exchange for a portfolio of securities and/or U.S. cash.
Tax Information
The Fund intends to make
distributions that may be taxed as ordinary income, qualified dividend income,
or capital gains.
Payments to
Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries
If you purchase shares of
the Fund through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a
bank) (an “Intermediary”), WisdomTree Asset Management or its affiliates may pay
Intermediaries for certain activities related to the Fund, including
participation in activities that are designed to make Intermediaries more
knowledgeable about exchange-traded products, including the Fund, or for other
activities, such as marketing, educational training or other initiatives related
to the sale or promotion of Fund shares. These payments may create a conflict of
interest by influencing the Intermediary and your salesperson to recommend the
Fund over another investment. Any such arrangements do not result in increased
Fund expenses. Ask your salesperson or visit the Intermediary’s website for more
information.
|
|
WisdomTree Trust Prospectus 25 |
WisdomTree International SmallCap Dividend
Fund
Investment
Objective
The WisdomTree International
SmallCap Dividend Fund (the “Fund”) seeks to track the price and yield
performance, before fees and expenses, of the WisdomTree International SmallCap
Dividend Index (the “Index”).
Fees and Expenses of the
Fund
The following table describes
the fees and expenses you may pay if you buy, hold and sell shares of the Fund.
You may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to
financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the table and example
below. The fees are expressed as a percentage of the Fund’s average net
assets.
Shareholder Fees (fees paid
directly from your investment) |
None |
Annual Fund Operating Expenses
(expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your
investment) |
|
Management Fees |
0.58% |
Distribution and/or Service
(12b-1) Fees |
None |
Other Expenses |
0.00%1 |
Total Annual Fund Operating
Expenses |
0.58%1 |
Example
The following example is
intended to help retail investors compare the cost of investing in the Fund with
the cost of investing in other funds. It illustrates the hypothetical expenses
that such investors would incur over various periods if they were to invest
$10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated and then redeem all of their
shares at the end of those periods. This example assumes that the Fund provides
a return of 5% a year and that operating expenses remain the same. This example
does not include the brokerage commissions that retail investors may pay to buy
and sell shares of the Fund. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower,
based on these assumptions, your costs would be:
|
1 Year |
3 Years |
5 Years |
10 Years |
|
$ 59 |
$ 186 |
$ 324 |
$ 726 |
Portfolio
Turnover
The Fund pays transaction
costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over”
its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction
costs and may result in higher taxes when Fund shares are held in a taxable
account. These costs, which are not reflected in annual fund operating expenses
or in the example, affect the Fund’s performance. During the most recent fiscal
year, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 51% of the average
value of its portfolio, excluding the value of portfolio securities received or
delivered as a result of in-kind creations or redemptions of the Fund’s capital
shares.
Principal Investment Strategies of the
Fund
The Fund employs a “passive
management” – or indexing – investment approach designed to track the
performance of the Index. The Fund generally uses a representative sampling
strategy to achieve its investment objective, meaning it generally will invest
in a sample of the securities in the Index whose risk, return and other
characteristics resemble the risk, return and other characteristics of the Index
as a whole. Under normal circumstances, at least 95% of the Fund’s total assets
(exclusive of collateral held from securities lending) will be invested in
component securities of the Index and investments that have economic
characteristics that are substantially identical to the economic characteristics
of such component securities.
The Index is a
fundamentally weighted index that is comprised of the small-capitalization
segment of the dividend-paying market in the industrialized world outside the
U.S. and Canada. Constituent companies are selected from the WisdomTree
International Equity Index, which defines the dividend-paying universe of
companies in the industrialized world, excluding Canada and the United States.
The Index is comprised of the companies that compose the bottom 25% of the
market capitalization of the WisdomTree International Equity Index, as of the
annual Index screening date, after the 300 largest companies have been removed.
As of June 30, 2023, the Index had a market capitalization range from $80.8
million to $23.8 billion, with an average market capitalization of $1.1 billion.
To be eligible for inclusion in the Index, a company must meet the following
criteria as of the annual Index screening date: (i) incorporation in one of 15
developed European countries (Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France,
Germany, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden,
Switzerland, or the United Kingdom), Israel, Japan, Australia, Hong Kong or
Singapore; (ii) payment of at least $5 million in cash dividends on shares of
common stock during the preceding annual cycle; (iii) market capitalization of
at least $100 million; (iv) median daily dollar trading volume of at least
$100,000 for the preceding three months; and (v) trading of at least 250,000
shares per month for each of the preceding six months.
26 WisdomTree
Trust Prospectus |
|
|
Securities are weighted in
the Index based on dividends paid over the prior annual cycle. Companies that
pay a greater total dollar amount of dividends are more heavily weighted. To
derive a company’s initial Index weight, (i) multiply the U.S. dollar
value of the company’s annual gross dividend per share by the number of common
shares outstanding for that company (the “Cash Dividend Factor”); (ii) calculate
the Cash Dividend Factor for each company; (iii) add together all of the
companies’ Cash Dividend Factors; and (iv) divide the company’s Cash
Dividend Factor by the sum of all Cash Dividend Factors. On the Index’s annual
screening date, the Index caps the weight of components exposed to any one
country and any one sector (except for the real estate sector) at 25%. The
weight of components exposed to the real estate sector is capped at 15%. The
Index also may adjust the weight of individual components on the annual
screening date based on certain quantitative thresholds or limits tied to key
metrics of a component security, such as its trading volume. To the extent the
Index reduces an individual component’s weight, the excess weight will be
reallocated pro rata among the other components. Similarly, if the Index
increases a component’s weight, the weight of the other components will be
reduced on a pro rata basis to contribute the weight needed for such increase.
The weight of a sector, country, or individual component in the Index may
fluctuate above or below specified caps and thresholds, respectively, between
screening dates in response to market conditions.
WisdomTree, Inc. (“WisdomTree”), as Index provider,
currently uses the Global Industry Classification Standard (GICS®), a
widely recognized industry classification methodology developed by MSCI, Inc.
and Standard & Poor’s Financial Services LLC, to define companies within a
sector. The following sectors are included in the Index: communication services,
consumer discretionary, consumer staples, energy, financials, health care,
industrials, information technology, materials, real estate, and utilities. A
sector is comprised of multiple industries. For example, the energy sector is
comprised of companies in the energy equipment and services industry as well as
the oil, gas and consumable fuels industry. As of June 30, 2023, companies in
the industrials sector comprised a significant portion (i.e., in excess
of 15% of the Index’s total weighting) of the Index; however, the Index's sector
exposure may change from time to time.
To the extent the Index concentrates
(i.e., holds 25% or more of its total assets) in the securities of a
particular industry or group of industries, the Fund will concentrate its
investments to approximately the same extent as the Index.
As of June 30, 2023, the
equity securities of companies domiciled in or otherwise tied to Japan and
Europe (including exposure to the United Kingdom) comprised a significant
portion (i.e., in excess of 15% of the Index’s total weighting) of the
Index, although the Index’s geographic exposure may change from time to
time.
Principal Risks of Investing in the
Fund
You can lose money on your investment in
the Fund. While certain of the risks are prioritized in
terms of their relevance to the Fund’s investment strategies, most risks are
presented in alphabetical order. This ordering approach is designed to both
facilitate an investor’s understanding of the Fund’s risks and enable an
investor to easily locate and compare risks among funds. Each risk summarized
below is considered a “principal risk” of investing in the Fund, regardless of
the order in which it appears. Some or all of these risks may adversely affect
the Fund’s net asset value per share (“NAV”), trading price, yield, total return
and/or ability to meet its objective. For more information about the risks of
investing in the Fund, see the sections in the Fund’s Prospectus titled
“Additional Principal Risk Information About the Funds” and “Additional
Non-Principal Risk Information.”
■ |
Foreign Securities
Risk. Investments in non-U.S. securities involve political,
regulatory, and economic risks that may not be present in U.S. securities.
For example, investments in non-U.S. securities may be subject to risk of
loss due to foreign currency fluctuations, political or economic
instability, or geographic events that adversely impact issuers of foreign
securities. Investments in non-U.S. securities also may be subject to
withholding or other taxes and may be subject to additional trading,
settlement, custodial, and operational risks. These and other factors can
make investments in the Fund more volatile and potentially less liquid
than other types of investments and may be heightened in connection with
investments in developing or emerging markets
countries. |
|
|
WisdomTree Trust Prospectus 27 |
■ |
Small-Capitalization
Investing Risk. The Fund invests primarily in the securities of
small-capitalization companies. As a result, the Fund may be more volatile
than funds that invest in larger, more established companies. The
securities of small-capitalization companies generally trade in lower
volumes and are subject to greater and more unpredictable price changes
than larger capitalization stocks or the stock market as a whole.
Small-capitalization companies may be particularly sensitive to adverse
economic developments as well as changes in interest rates, government
regulation, borrowing costs and earnings. |
|
|
■ |
Dividend Paying Securities
Risk. Securities that pay dividends, as a group, may be out of favor
with the market and underperform the overall equity market or stocks of
companies that do not pay dividends. In addition, changes in the dividend
policies of the companies held by the Fund or the capital resources
available for such company’s dividend payments may adversely affect the
Fund. |
|
|
■ |
Investment Risk. As
with all investments, an investment in the Fund is subject to loss,
including the possible loss of the entire principal amount of an
investment, over short or long periods of
time. |
|
|
■ |
Market Risk. The
trading prices of equity securities and other instruments fluctuate in
response to a variety of factors, such as economic, financial or political
events that impact the entire market, market segments, or specific
issuers. The Fund’s NAV and market price may fluctuate significantly in
response to these and other factors. As a result, an investor could lose
money over short or long periods of time. |
|
|
■ |
Shares of the Fund May
Trade at Prices Other Than NAV. As with all exchange-traded funds
(“ETFs”), Fund shares may be bought and sold in the secondary market at
market prices. The market prices of the Fund’s shares in the secondary
market generally differ from the Fund’s daily NAV, and there may be times
when the market price of the shares is more than the NAV (premium) or less
than the NAV (discount). This risk is heightened in times of market
volatility or periods of steep market declines. Because securities held by
the Fund trade on, or have exposure to, foreign exchanges that are closed
when the Fund’s primary listing exchange is open, the Fund is likely to
experience premiums and discounts greater than those of domestic ETFs.
Additionally, in stressed market conditions, the market for the Fund’s
shares may become less liquid in response to deteriorating liquidity in
the markets for the Fund’s underlying portfolio
holdings. |
|
|
■ |
Currency Exchange Rate
Risk. Changes in currency exchange rates and the relative value of
non-U.S. currencies will affect the value of the Fund’s investment and the
value of your Fund shares. Currency exchange rates can be very volatile
and can change quickly and unpredictably. As a result, the value of an
investment in the Fund may also change quickly, unpredictably, and without
warning, and you may lose money. |
|
|
■ |
Cybersecurity Risk. The
Fund and its service providers may be susceptible to operational and
information security risks resulting from a breach in cybersecurity,
including cyber-attacks. A breach in cybersecurity, intentional or
unintentional, may adversely impact the Fund in many ways, including, but
not limited to, disruption of the Fund’s operational capacity, loss of
proprietary information, theft or corruption of data, denial-of-service
attacks on websites or network resources, and the unauthorized release of
confidential information. Cyber-attacks affecting the Fund’s third-party
service providers, market makers, institutional investors authorized to
purchase and redeem shares directly from the Fund (i.e., Authorized
Participants), or the issuers of securities in which the Fund invests may
subject the Fund to many of the same risks associated with direct
cybersecurity breaches. |
|
|
■ |
Geographic Investment
Risk. To the extent the Fund invests a significant portion of its
assets in securities of companies of a single country or region, it is
more likely to be impacted by events or conditions affecting that country
or region. |
Investments in
Japan
Investments in Japan are subject to risks associated with its
economy's dependence on the export market and consistent government support of
its export market. Slowdowns in the Japanese export market may have a negative
impact on the Japanese economy as a whole. Japan is also subject to risks
associated with natural disasters and escalating political tension in the
region.
Investments in
Europe
Many European countries are members of the European Union (“EU”)
as well as the European Economic and Monetary Union (“EMU”) and, as a result,
the economies and markets of European countries can be closely connected and
largely interdependent. As such, adverse events in one European country may have
effects across Europe. Investments in Europe are also subject to risks stemming
from the uncertain consequences of the United Kingdom's (“U.K.”) exit of the EU
single market and customs union (“Brexit”). Further, Russia's invasion of the
Ukraine, and the continued hostilities in the region, have caused increased
volatility in European markets and led to broad ranging economic sanctions
against Russia. Uncertainties surrounding the duration and potential increased
geographic scope of hostilities may create additional volatility in European and
global markets. Any of the above could have a negative effect on the Fund's
investments in Europe.
28 WisdomTree
Trust Prospectus |
|
|
Investments in the
United Kingdom
Investments in the United Kingdom (“U.K.”) are subject to
risks associated with uncertainties surrounding Brexit and changes in the
economic health of its primary trade partners across Europe and the United
States. The U.K.'s economy is also heavily dependent on the export of financial
services and may be impacted by a slowdown in the financial services
sector.
■ |
Geopolitical Risk. Some
countries and regions in which the Fund invests have experienced security
concerns, war, threats of war, aggression and/or conflict, terrorism,
economic uncertainty, sanctions or the threat of sanctions, natural and
environmental disasters, the spread of infectious illness, widespread
disease or other public health issues and/or systemic market dislocations
(including due to events outside of such countries or regions) that have
led, and in the future may lead, to increased short-term market volatility
and may have adverse long-term effects on the U.S. and world economies and
markets generally, each of which may negatively impact the Fund’s
investments. |
|
|
■ |
Index and Data Risk.
The Fund is not “actively” managed and seeks to track the price and yield
performance, before fees and expenses, of the Index. The Index may not
perform as intended. The Index provider has the right to make adjustments
to the Index or to cease making the Index available without regard to the
particular interests of the Fund or its shareholders. If the computers or
other facilities of the Index provider, Index calculation agent, data
providers and/or relevant stock exchange malfunction for any reason,
calculation and dissemination of Index values may be delayed and trading
in Fund shares may be suspended for a period of time. Errors in Index
data, Index calculations and/or the construction of the Index may occur
from time to time and may not be identified and/or corrected by the Index
provider, Index calculation agent or other applicable party for a period
of time or at all, which may have an adverse impact on the Fund and its
shareholders. The potential risk of continuing error may be particularly
heightened in the case of the Index, which is generally not used as a
benchmark by other funds or managers. |
|
|
■ |
Industrials Sector
Risk. The Fund currently invests a significant portion of its assets
in the industrials sector, and therefore the Fund’s performance could be
negatively impacted by events affecting this sector. The industrials
sector includes, for example, aerospace and defense, non-residential
construction, engineering, machinery, transportation, and commercial and
professional services companies. The industrials sector can be
significantly affected by, among other things, business cycle
fluctuations, worldwide economy growth, international political and
economic developments, exchange rates, commodity prices, environmental
issues, government and corporate spending, supply and demand for specific
products and services, rapid technological developments, and government
regulation. |
|
|
■ |
Investment Style Risk.
The Fund invests in the securities included in, or representative of, the
Index regardless of their investment merit. The Fund does not attempt to
outperform the Index or take defensive positions in declining markets. As
a result, the Fund’s performance may be adversely affected by a general
decline in the market segments relating to the
Index. |
|
|
■ |
Issuer-Specific Risk.
Issuer-specific events, including changes in the actual or perceived
financial condition of an issuer, can have a negative impact on the value
of the Fund. |
|
|
■ |
Non-Correlation Risk.
As with all index funds, the performance of the Fund and that of its Index
may differ from each other for a variety of reasons. For example, the Fund
incurs operating expenses and portfolio transaction costs, while also
managing cash flows and potential operational inefficiencies, not incurred
by its Index. In addition, when markets are volatile, the ability to sell
securities at fair market prices may be adversely affected and may result
in additional trading costs and/or increase the non-correlation risk. The
Fund's use of sampling techniques also may affect its ability to achieve
close correlation with its Index. |
|
|
■ |
Non-Diversification
Risk. The Fund is considered to be non-diversified, which means that
it may invest more of its assets in the securities of a single issuer or a
smaller number of issuers than if it were a diversified fund. To the
extent the Fund invests a significant percentage of its assets in a
limited number of issuers, the Fund is subject to the risks of investing
in those few issuers, and may be more susceptible to a single adverse
economic or regulatory occurrence. As a result, changes in the market
value of a single security could cause greater fluctuations in the value
of Fund shares than would occur in a diversified
fund. |
|
|
WisdomTree Trust Prospectus 29 |
Fund
Performance
Historical Fund
performance, which varies over time, can provide an indication of the risks of
investing in the Fund. The bar chart that follows shows the annual total returns
of the Fund for each full calendar year since the Fund commenced operations, or
the past 10 calendar years, as applicable. The table that
follows the bar chart shows the Fund’s average annual total returns, both before
and after taxes. This table also shows how the Fund’s performance compares to
the Index and the MSCI EAFE Small Cap Index, a relevant broad-based securities
index. In addition, performance also is shown for the MSCI EAFE Small Cap Value
Index, another comparative index that also represents the asset class in which
the Fund invests. Index returns do not reflect deductions for fees, expenses or
taxes. All returns assume reinvestment of dividends and distributions. The Fund’s past performance
(before and after taxes) is not necessarily an indication of how the Fund will
perform in the future. Updated performance information
for the Fund is available online on the Fund’s website at www.wisdomtree.com/investments.
Year |
Return |
2013 |
27.41% |
2014 |
-7.12% |
2015 |
6.95% |
2016 |
7.00% |
2017 |
30.95% |
2018 |
-18.69% |
2019 |
22.11% |
2020 |
-1.23% |
2021 |
11.66% |
2022 |
-17.36% |
The Fund’s
year-to-date total return
as of June 30,
2023 was 5.31%.
Best and Worst Quarter
Returns (for the periods reflected in the bar chart above)
|
Return |
Quarter/Year |
Highest
Return |
16.23% |
2Q/2020 June 30,
2020 |
Lowest
Return |
(31.83)% |
1Q/2020 March 31,
2020 |
After-tax returns are
calculated using the highest historical individual federal marginal income tax
rates and do not reflect the impact of state and local
taxes. Actual after-tax returns
depend on your tax situation and may differ from those shown and are not
relevant if you hold your shares through tax-deferred arrangements, such as
401(k) plans or individual retirement accounts. In some cases, the return
after taxes may exceed the return before taxes due to an assumed tax benefit
from any losses on a sale of Fund shares at the end of the measurement
period.
Average Annual Total Returns for the periods
ending December 31, 2022
WisdomTree International
SmallCap Dividend Fund |
1 Year |
5 Years |
10 Years |
Return Before Taxes Based on
NAV |
(17.36)% |
(1.98)% |
4.84% |
Return After Taxes on
Distributions |
(18.27)% |
(2.69)% |
4.04% |
Return After Taxes on
Distributions and Sale of Fund Shares |
(9.57)% |
(1.36)% |
3.86% |
WisdomTree International
SmallCap Dividend Index (Reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or
taxes) |
(16.94)% |
(1.08)% |
5.58% |
MSCI EAFE Small Cap Index
(Reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes) |
(21.39)% |
(0.05)% |
6.21% |
MSCI EAFE Small Cap Value
Index (Reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes) |
(14.99)% |
(0.61)% |
5.79% |
Management
Investment Adviser and
Sub-Adviser
WisdomTree Asset
Management, Inc. (“WisdomTree Asset Management” or the “Adviser”) serves as
investment adviser to the Fund. Mellon Investments Corporation (the
“Sub-Adviser”) serves as sub-adviser to the Fund.
30 WisdomTree
Trust Prospectus |
|
|
Portfolio
Managers
The Fund is managed by the
Sub-Adviser’s Equity Index Strategies Portfolio Management team. The individual
members of the team jointly and primarily responsible for the day-to-day
management of the Fund’s portfolio are identified below.
Marlene Walker-Smith, a
Director, Head of Equity Index Portfolio Management, has been a portfolio
manager of the Fund since October 2020.
David France, CFA, a Vice
President, Senior Portfolio Manager and Team Manager, has been a portfolio
manager of the Fund since June 2021.
Todd Frysinger, CFA, a Vice
President, Senior Portfolio Manager and Team Manager, has been a portfolio
manager of the Fund since June 2021.
Vlasta Sheremeta, CFA, a
Vice President, Senior Portfolio Manager and Team Manager, has been a portfolio
manager of the Fund since June 2021.
Michael Stoll, a Vice
President, Senior Portfolio Manager and Team Manager, has been a portfolio
manager of the Fund since June 2021.
Buying and Selling Fund
Shares
The Fund is an ETF. This
means that individual shares of the Fund are listed on a national securities
exchange, such as NYSE Arca, and may only be purchased and sold in the secondary
market through a broker-dealer at market prices. Because Fund shares trade at
market prices rather than NAV, shares may trade at a price greater than NAV
(premium) or less than NAV (discount). In addition, an investor may incur costs
attributable to the difference between the highest price a buyer is willing to
pay to purchase shares (bid) and the lowest price a seller is willing to accept
for shares (ask) when buying and selling shares in the secondary market (the
“bid/ask spread”). Recent information regarding the Fund, including its NAV,
market price, premiums and discounts, and bid/ask spreads, is available on the
Fund’s website at www.wisdomtree.com/investments.
The Fund issues and redeems
shares at NAV only in large blocks of shares (“Creation Units”), which only
certain institutions or large investors (typically market makers or other
broker-dealers) may purchase or redeem. The Fund issues and redeems Creation
Units in exchange for a portfolio of securities and/or U.S. cash.
Tax Information
The Fund intends to make
distributions that may be taxed as ordinary income, qualified dividend income,
or capital gains.
Payments to
Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries
If you purchase shares of
the Fund through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a
bank) (an “Intermediary”), WisdomTree Asset Management or its affiliates may pay
Intermediaries for certain activities related to the Fund, including
participation in activities that are designed to make Intermediaries more
knowledgeable about exchange-traded products, including the Fund, or for other
activities, such as marketing, educational training or other initiatives related
to the sale or promotion of Fund shares. These payments may create a conflict of
interest by influencing the Intermediary and your salesperson to recommend the
Fund over another investment. Any such arrangements do not result in increased
Fund expenses. Ask your salesperson or visit the Intermediary’s website for more
information.
|
|
WisdomTree Trust Prospectus 31 |
WisdomTree International AI Enhanced Value
Fund
Investment
Objective
The WisdomTree International
AI Enhanced Value Fund (the “Fund”) seeks income and capital
appreciation.
Fees and Expenses of the
Fund
The following table describes
the fees and expenses you may pay if you buy, hold and sell shares of the Fund.
You may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to
financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the table and example
below. The fees are expressed as a percentage of the Fund’s average net
assets.
Shareholder Fees (fees paid
directly from your investment) |
None |
Annual Fund Operating Expenses
(expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your
investment) |
|
Management Fees |
0.58% |
Distribution and/or Service
(12b-1) Fees |
None |
Other Expenses |
0.00%1 |
Total Annual Fund Operating
Expenses |
0.58%1 |
The following example is
intended to help retail investors compare the cost of investing in the Fund with
the cost of investing in other funds. It illustrates the hypothetical expenses
that such investors would incur over various periods if they were to invest
$10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated and then redeem all of their
shares at the end of those periods. This example assumes that the Fund provides
a return of 5% a year and that operating expenses remain the same. This example
does not include the brokerage commissions that retail investors may pay to buy
and sell shares of the Fund. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower,
based on these assumptions, your costs would be:
|
1 Year |
3 Years |
5 Years |
10 Years |
|
$ 59 |
$ 186 |
$ 324 |
$ 726 |
Portfolio
Turnover
The Fund pays transaction
costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over”
its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction
costs and may result in higher taxes when Fund shares are held in a taxable
account. These costs, which are not reflected in annual fund operating expenses
or in the example, affect the Fund’s performance. During the most recent fiscal
year, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 148% of the
average value of its portfolio, excluding the value of portfolio securities
received or delivered as a result of in-kind creations or redemptions of the
Fund’s capital shares.
Principal Investment Strategies of the
Fund
The Fund is actively managed
and seeks to achieve its investment objective by investing primarily in equity
securities selected from a universe of developed market equities, excluding the
United States and Canada, that exhibit value characteristics (the “Parent
Universe”) based on the selection results of a proprietary, quantitative
artificial intelligence (“AI”) model developed by Voya Investment Management
Co., LLC (“Voya IM” or the “Sub-Adviser”). AI refers to the simulation of human
intelligence by machines. Machine learning is a subset of AI that refers to a
machine’s ability to learn and improve from experience automatically without
being explicitly programmed.
To be eligible for
inclusion in the Parent Universe, a company must (i) be listed on a non-U.S.
internationally recognized global stock exchange or regulated public market,
(ii) have a market capitalization of at least $100 million, (iii) have an
average daily volume of at least $100,000, and (iv) have an average of six
months aggregate daily trading volume of 250,000 shares.
The AI model enhances the
Fund’s value investing strategy by analyzing a variety of inputs, including
company fundamentals and market sentiment, to select equity securities within
the Parent Universe that exhibit value characteristics. The AI model seeks to
self-identify persistent patterns in company data to identify those it expects
to outperform, based on current and historical data spanning more than 20 years,
including structured (e.g., financials) and unstructured (e.g.,
press releases, news articles) data.
32 WisdomTree
Trust Prospectus |
|
|
The equity securities
selected by the AI model typically have a lower price-to-book ratio, a lower
price-to-earnings ratio, and greater free cash flow. The AI model is generally
updated monthly and typically selects between 60 and 190 equity securities that
exhibit strong value characteristics, such as those noted above, and have the
greatest potential to achieve income and capital appreciation for inclusion in
the Fund. The AI model weights the selected equities based on their overall
model scores; however, the AI model limits the weight of any individual company
to 6%. The Sub-Adviser oversees the AI model and generally intervenes in limited
circumstances to address factors that the Sub-Adviser believes are not
incorporated in the AI model, such as responding to corporate actions
(e.g., mergers and acquisitions). The Sub-Adviser generally buys and
sells equity securities for the Fund on a monthly basis based on the
recommendations of the AI model, while also ensuring that the Fund remains in
compliance with the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, and its rules
and regulations.
As of June 30, 2023, companies in the
financials sector comprised a significant portion (i.e., in excess of
15%) of the Fund’s assets; however, the Fund’s sector exposure may change from
time to time.
As of June 30, 2023, the
Fund invested a significant portion (i.e., in excess of 15%) of its
assets in the equity securities of companies domiciled in or otherwise tied to,
and thus had significant investment exposure to, Europe, particularly the United
Kingdom, and Japan, although the Fund’s geographic exposure may change from time
to time.
Principal Risks of Investing in the
Fund
You can lose money on your investment in
the Fund. While certain of the risks are prioritized in
terms of their relevance to the Fund’s investment strategies, most risks are
presented in alphabetical order. This ordering approach is designed to both
facilitate an investor’s understanding of the Fund’s risks and enable an
investor to easily locate and compare risks among funds. Each risk summarized
below is considered a “principal risk” of investing in the Fund, regardless of
the order in which it appears. Some or all of these risks may adversely affect
the Fund’s net asset value per share (“NAV”), trading price, yield, total return
and/or ability to meet its objective. For more information about the risks of
investing in the Fund, see the sections in the Fund’s Prospectus titled
“Additional Principal Risk Information About the Funds” and “Additional
Non-Principal Risk Information.”
■ |
AI Model Risk. The Fund
is actively managed using the AI model, the output of which is heavily
dependent on multiple inputs, including current and historical data
(collectively, “Data”). To the extent the AI model does not perform as
designed or as intended, the Fund may not be able to achieve its
investment objective and may lose value. If either or both the AI model
and the Data prove to be incorrect or incomplete, any decisions made in
reliance thereon may lead to the inclusion or exclusion of securities that
would have been excluded or included had the AI model and Data been
correct and complete. Errors in the Data, calculations and/or the
construction of the AI model may occur from time to time and may not be
identified and/or corrected by the Sub-Adviser or the Adviser for a period
of time or at all, which may have an adverse impact on the Fund and its
shareholders. |
|
|
■ |
Foreign Securities
Risk. Investments in non-U.S. securities involve political,
regulatory, and economic risks that may not be present in U.S. securities.
For example, investments in non-U.S. securities may be subject to risk of
loss due to foreign currency fluctuations, political or economic
instability, or geographic events that adversely impact issuers of foreign
securities. Investments in non-U.S. securities also may be subject to
withholding or other taxes and may be subject to additional trading,
settlement, custodial, and operational risks. These and other factors can
make investments in the Fund more volatile and potentially less liquid
than other types of investments and may be heightened in connection with
investments in developing or emerging markets
countries. |
|
|
■ |
Value Investing Risk.
Value stocks, as a group, may be out of favor with the market and
underperform growth stocks or the overall equity market. Value investing
focuses on companies whose stocks appear undervalued, but value stocks may
not realize their perceived intrinsic value for extended periods of time
or may never realize their perceived intrinsic
value. |
|
|
■ |
Investment Risk. As
with all investments, an investment in the Fund is subject to loss,
including the possible loss of the entire principal amount of an
investment, over short or long periods of
time. |
|
|
WisdomTree Trust Prospectus 33 |
■ |
Market Risk. The
trading prices of equity securities and other instruments fluctuate in
response to a variety of factors, such as economic, financial or political
events that impact the entire market, market segments, or specific
issuers. The Fund’s NAV and market price may fluctuate significantly in
response to these and other factors. As a result, an investor could lose
money over short or long periods of time. |
|
|
■ |
Shares of the Fund May
Trade at Prices Other Than NAV. As with all exchange-traded funds
(“ETFs”), Fund shares may be bought and sold in the secondary market at
market prices. The market prices of the Fund’s shares in the secondary
market generally differ from the Fund’s daily NAV, and there may be times
when the market price of the shares is more than the NAV (premium) or less
than the NAV (discount). This risk is heightened in times of market
volatility or periods of steep market declines. Because securities held by
the Fund trade on, or have exposure to, foreign exchanges that are closed
when the Fund’s primary listing exchange is open, the Fund is likely to
experience premiums and discounts greater than those of domestic ETFs.
Additionally, in stressed market conditions, the market for the Fund’s
shares may become less liquid in response to deteriorating liquidity in
the markets for the Fund’s underlying portfolio
holdings. |
|
|
■ |
Active Management Risk.
The Fund is actively managed using the AI model. There can be no guarantee
that the Fund’s strategies or the AI model will be successful or that the
Fund will achieve its investment objective. |
|
|
■ |
Currency Exchange Rate
Risk. Changes in currency exchange rates and the relative value of
non-U.S. currencies will affect the value of the Fund’s investment and the
value of your Fund shares. Currency exchange rates can be very volatile
and can change quickly and unpredictably. As a result, the value of an
investment in the Fund may also change quickly, unpredictably, and without
warning, and you may lose money. |
|
|
■ |
Cybersecurity Risk. The
Fund and its service providers may be susceptible to operational and
information security risks resulting from a breach in cybersecurity,
including cyber-attacks. A breach in cybersecurity, intentional or
unintentional, may adversely impact the Fund in many ways, including, but
not limited to, disruption of the Fund’s operational capacity, loss of
proprietary information, theft or corruption of data, denial-of-service
attacks on websites or network resources, and the unauthorized release of
confidential information. Cyber-attacks affecting the Fund’s third-party
service providers, market makers, institutional investors authorized to
purchase and redeem shares directly from the Fund (i.e., Authorized
Participants), or the issuers of securities in which the Fund invests may
subject the Fund to many of the same risks associated with direct
cybersecurity breaches. |
|
|
■ |
Financials Sector Risk.
The Fund currently invests a significant portion of its assets in the
financials sector, and therefore, the Fund’s performance could be
negatively impacted by events affecting this sector. The financials sector
includes, for example, companies engaged in banking, financial services,
consumer finance, capital markets and insurance activities as well as
financial exchanges, financial data providers and mortgage real estate
investment trusts. This sector can be significantly affected by, among
other things, changes in interest rates, government regulation, the rate
of defaults on corporate, consumer and government debt, and the
availability and cost of capital. |
|
|
■ |
Geographic Investment
Risk. To the extent the Fund invests a significant portion of its
assets in securities of companies of a single country or region, it is
more likely to be impacted by events or conditions affecting that country
or region. |
Investments in
Europe
Many European countries are members of the European Union (“EU”)
as well as the European Economic and Monetary Union (“EMU”) and, as a result,
the economies and markets of European countries can be closely connected and
largely interdependent. As such, adverse events in one European country may have
effects across Europe. Investments in Europe are also subject to risks stemming
from the uncertain consequences of the United Kingdom's (“U.K.”) exit of the EU
single market and customs union (“Brexit”). Further, Russia's invasion of the
Ukraine, and the continued hostilities in the region, have caused increased
volatility in European markets and led to broad ranging economic sanctions
against Russia. Uncertainties surrounding the duration and potential increased
geographic scope of hostilities may create additional volatility in European and
global markets. Any of the above could have a negative effect on the Fund's
investments in Europe.
Investments in the
United Kingdom
Investments in the United Kingdom (“U.K.”) are subject to
risks associated with uncertainties surrounding Brexit and changes in the
economic health of its primary trade partners across Europe and the United
States. The U.K.'s economy is also heavily dependent on the export of financial
services and may be impacted by a slowdown in the financial services
sector.
34 WisdomTree
Trust Prospectus |
|
|
Investments in
Japan
Investments in Japan are subject to risks associated with its
economy's dependence on the export market and consistent government support of
its export market. Slowdowns in the Japanese export market may have a negative
impact on the Japanese economy as a whole. Japan is also subject to risks
associated with natural disasters and escalating political tension in the
region.
■ |
Geopolitical Risk. Some
countries and regions in which the Fund invests have experienced security
concerns, war, threats of war, aggression and/or conflict, terrorism,
economic uncertainty, sanctions or the threat of sanctions, natural and
environmental disasters, the spread of infectious illness, widespread
disease or other public health issues and/or systemic market dislocations
(including due to events outside of such countries or regions) that have
led, and in the future may lead, to increased short-term market volatility
and may have adverse long-term effects on the U.S. and world economies and
markets generally, each of which may negatively impact the Fund’s
investments. |
|
|
■ |
Investment Style Risk.
The returns from the types of securities in which the Fund invests may
underperform returns from the various general securities markets or
different asset classes. This may cause the Fund to underperform other
investment vehicles that invest in different asset
classes. |
|
|
■ |
Issuer-Specific Risk.
Issuer-specific events, including changes in the actual or perceived
financial condition of an issuer, can have a negative impact on the value
of the Fund. |
|
|
■ |
Large-Capitalization
Investing Risk. The Fund may invest in the securities of
large-capitalization companies. As a result, the Fund’s performance may be
adversely affected if securities of these companies underperform
securities of smaller capitalization companies or the market as a whole.
Large-capitalization companies may adapt more slowly to new competitive
challenges and be subject to slower growth during times of economic
expansion. |
|
|
■ |
Non-Diversification
Risk. The Fund is considered to be non-diversified, which means that
it may invest more of its assets in the securities of a single issuer or a
smaller number of issuers than if it were a diversified fund. To the
extent the Fund invests a significant percentage of its assets in a
limited number of issuers, the Fund is subject to the risks of investing
in those few issuers, and may be more susceptible to a single adverse
economic or regulatory occurrence. As a result, changes in the market
value of a single security could cause greater fluctuations in the value
of Fund shares than would occur in a diversified
fund. |
|
|
■ |
Portfolio Turnover
Risk. The Fund’s investment strategy may result in a high portfolio
turnover rate. Higher portfolio turnover may result in the Fund paying
higher transaction costs and the distribution of additional capital gains,
which may generate greater tax liabilities for shareholders who hold the
shares in taxable accounts. Increased transaction costs and distributions
of capital gains may negatively affect the Fund’s
performance. |
Fund
Performance
Historical Fund
performance, which varies over time, can provide an indication of the risks of
investing in the Fund. The bar chart that follows shows the annual total returns
of the Fund for each full calendar year since the Fund commenced operations, or
the past 10 calendar years, as applicable. The table that
follows the bar chart shows the Fund’s average annual total returns, both before
and after taxes. This table also shows how the Fund’s performance compares to
the MSCI EAFE Value Index, a relevant broad-based securities index. Index
returns do not reflect deductions for fees, expenses or taxes. All returns
assume reinvestment of dividends and distributions. The Fund’s past performance
(before and after taxes) is not necessarily an indication of how the Fund will
perform in the future. Updated performance information
for the Fund is available online on the Fund’s website at www.wisdomtree.com/investments.
The Fund’s name, investment
objective and strategies changed effective January 18, 2022. Fund performance
prior to January 18, 2022 reflects the Fund’s investment objective and
strategies when it sought to provide returns that corresponded to the
performance of the WisdomTree International Dividend ex-Financials
Index.
|
|
WisdomTree Trust Prospectus 35 |
Year |
Return |
2013 |
19.67% |
2014 |
-4.08% |
2015 |
-8.28% |
2016 |
2.05% |
2017 |
20.03% |
2018 |
-9.36% |
2019 |
17.69% |
2020 |
-1.16% |
2021 |
9.38% |
2022 |
-10.04% |
The Fund’s
year-to-date total return
as of June 30,
2023 was 11.21%.
Best and Worst Quarter
Returns (for the periods reflected in the bar chart above)
|
Return |
Quarter/Year |
Highest
Return |
18.58% |
4Q/2022 December 31,
2022 |
Lowest
Return |
(25.42)% |
1Q/2020 March 31,
2020 |
After-tax returns are
calculated using the highest historical individual federal marginal income tax
rates and do not reflect the impact of state and local
taxes. Actual after-tax returns
depend on your tax situation and may differ from those shown and are not
relevant if you hold your shares through tax-deferred arrangements, such as
401(k) plans or individual retirement accounts. In some cases, the return
after taxes may exceed the return before taxes due to an assumed tax benefit
from any losses on a sale of Fund shares at the end of the measurement
period.
Average Annual Total Returns for the periods
ending December 31, 2022
WisdomTree International Al
Enhanced Value Fund* |
1 Year |
5 Years |
10 Years |
Return Before Taxes Based on
NAV |
(10.04)% |
0.74% |
2.96% |
Return After Taxes on
Distributions |
(10.98)% |
(0.32)% |
1.90% |
Return After Taxes on
Distributions and Sale of Fund Shares |
(5.34)% |
0.53% |
2.23% |
MSCI EAFE Value Index
(Reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes) |
(5.58)% |
0.17% |
3.51% |
Management
Investment Adviser and
Sub-Adviser
WisdomTree Asset
Management, Inc. (“WisdomTree Asset Management” or the “Adviser”) serves as
investment adviser to the Fund. Voya Investment Management Co., LLC (“Voya IM”)
serves as sub-adviser to the Fund.
Portfolio
Managers
The Fund is managed by Voya
IM’s Quantitative Equities Team. The individual members of the team jointly and
primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund’s portfolio are
described below.
Vincent Costa, CFA, Chief
Investment Officer, Equities, has been a portfolio manager of the Fund since
January 2022.
Peg DiOrio, CFA, Head of
Quantitative Equity Portfolio Management, has been a portfolio manager of the
Fund since January 2022.
Russell Shtern, CFA,
Portfolio Manager, Machine Intelligence, has been a portfolio manager of the
Fund since August 2023.
Buying and Selling Fund
Shares
The Fund is an ETF. This
means that individual shares of the Fund are listed on a national securities
exchange, such as NYSE Arca, and may only be purchased and sold in the secondary
market through a broker-dealer at market prices. Because Fund shares trade at
market prices rather than NAV, shares may trade at a price greater than NAV
(premium) or less than NAV (discount). In addition, an investor may incur costs
attributable to the difference between the highest price a buyer is willing to
pay to purchase shares (bid) and the lowest price a seller is willing to accept
for shares (ask) when buying and selling shares in the secondary market (the
“bid/ask spread”). Recent information regarding the Fund, including its NAV,
market price, premiums and discounts, and bid/ask spreads, is available on the
Fund’s website at www.wisdomtree.com/investments.
36 WisdomTree
Trust Prospectus |
|
|
The Fund issues and redeems
shares at NAV only in large blocks of shares (“Creation Units”), which only
certain institutions or large investors (typically market makers or other
broker-dealers) may purchase or redeem. The Fund issues and redeems Creation
Units in exchange for a portfolio of securities and/or U.S. cash.
Tax Information
The Fund intends to make
distributions that may be taxed as ordinary income, qualified dividend income,
or capital gains.
Payments to
Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries
If you purchase shares of
the Fund through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a
bank) (an “Intermediary”), WisdomTree Asset Management or its affiliates may pay
Intermediaries for certain activities related to the Fund, including
participation in activities that are designed to make Intermediaries more
knowledgeable about exchange-traded products, including the Fund, or for other
activities, such as marketing, educational training or other initiatives related
to the sale or promotion of Fund shares. These payments may create a conflict of
interest by influencing the Intermediary and your salesperson to recommend the
Fund over another investment. Any such arrangements do not result in increased
Fund expenses. Ask your salesperson or visit the Intermediary’s website for more
information.
|
|
WisdomTree Trust Prospectus 37 |
WisdomTree International Quality Dividend Growth
Fund
Investment
Objective
The WisdomTree International
Quality Dividend Growth Fund (the “Fund”) seeks to track the price and yield
performance, before fees and expenses, of the WisdomTree International Quality
Dividend Growth Index (the “Index”).
Fees and Expenses of the
Fund
The following table describes
the fees and expenses you may pay if you buy, hold and sell shares of the Fund.
You may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to
financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the table and example
below. The fees are expressed as a percentage of the Fund’s average net
assets.
Shareholder Fees (fees paid
directly from your investment) |
None |
Annual Fund Operating Expenses
(expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your
investment) |
|
Management Fees |
0.42% |
Distribution and/or Service
(12b-1) Fees |
None |
Other Expenses |
0.00%1 |
Total Annual Fund Operating
Expenses |
0.42%1 |
Example
The following example is
intended to help retail investors compare the cost of investing in the Fund with
the cost of investing in other funds. It illustrates the hypothetical expenses
that such investors would incur over various periods if they were to invest
$10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated and then redeem all of their
shares at the end of those periods. This example assumes that the Fund provides
a return of 5% a year and that operating expenses remain the same. This example
does not include the brokerage commissions that retail investors may pay to buy
and sell shares of the Fund. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower,
based on these assumptions, your costs would be:
|
1 Year |
3 Years |
5 Years |
10 Years |
|
$ 43 |
$ 135 |
$ 235 |
$ 530 |
Portfolio
Turnover
The Fund pays transaction
costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over”
its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction
costs and may result in higher taxes when Fund shares are held in a taxable
account. These costs, which are not reflected in annual fund operating expenses
or in the example, affect the Fund’s performance. During the most recent fiscal
period, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 48% of the average
value of its portfolio, excluding the value of portfolio securities received or
delivered as a result of in-kind creations or redemptions of the Fund’s capital
shares.
Principal Investment Strategies of the
Fund
The Fund employs a “passive
management” – or indexing – investment approach designed to track the
performance of the Index. The Fund generally uses a representative sampling
strategy to achieve its investment objective, meaning it generally will invest
in a sample of the securities in the Index whose risk, return and other
characteristics resemble the risk, return and other characteristics of the Index
as a whole. Under normal circumstances, at least 80% of the Fund’s total assets
(exclusive of collateral held from securities lending) will be invested in
component securities of the Index and investments that have economic
characteristics that are substantially identical to the economic characteristics
of such component securities.
The Index consists of
dividend-paying common stocks with growth characteristics of companies in the
industrialized world, excluding Canada and the United States. The Index is
generally comprised of the 300 companies in the WisdomTree International Equity
Index with the best combined rank of certain growth and quality factors,
specifically: long-term earnings growth expectations, return on equity, and
return on assets. The WisdomTree International Equity Index is a fundamentally
weighted index that is comprised of companies that pay regular cash dividends.
To be eligible for inclusion in the WisdomTree International Equity Index a
company must be incorporated in and list its shares on the major stock exchange
in one of 15 developed European countries (Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland,
France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden,
Switzerland, or the United Kingdom), Israel, Japan, Australia, Hong Kong, or
Singapore.
38 WisdomTree
Trust Prospectus |
|
|
To be eligible for
inclusion in the Index, a company must meet the following criteria as of the
annual Index screening date: (i) payment of at least $5 million in cash
dividends on common shares during the preceding annual cycle; (ii) market
capitalization of at least $1 billion; (iii) an earnings yield that is greater
than its dividend yield; (iv) median daily dollar trading volume of at least
$100,000 for the preceding three months; and (v) trading of at least 250,000
shares per month for each of the preceding six months. Eligible companies are
ranked according to a rules-based calculation based on the following three
factors, weighted as follows: medium-term earnings growth expectations (50%),
the historical three-year average return on equity (25%), and the historical
three-year average return on assets (25%). The top 300 ranked companies are
selected for inclusion in the Index.
Securities are weighted in
the Index based on dividends paid over the prior annual cycle. Companies that
pay a greater total dollar amount of dividends are more heavily weighted. To
derive a company’s initial Index weight, (i) multiply the U.S. dollar
value of the company’s annual gross dividend per share by the number of common
shares outstanding for that company (the “Cash Dividend Factor”); (ii) calculate
the Cash Dividend Factor for each company; (iii) add together all of the
companies’ Cash Dividend Factors; and (iv) divide the company’s Cash
Dividend Factor by the sum of all Cash Dividend Factors. On the Index’s annual
screening date, the maximum weight of any security in the Index is capped at 5%,
and the Index caps the weight of components exposed to any one country and any
one sector (except for the real estate sector) at 20%. The weight of components
exposed to the real estate sector is capped at 15%. The Index also may adjust
the weight of individual components on the annual screening date based on
certain quantitative thresholds or limits tied to key metrics of a component
security, such as its trading volume. To the extent the Index reduces an
individual component’s weight, the excess weight will be reallocated pro rata
among the other components. Similarly, if the Index increases a component’s
weight, the weight of the other components will be reduced on a pro rata basis
to contribute the weight needed for such increase. The weight of a sector,
country, or individual component in the Index may fluctuate above or below
specified caps and thresholds, respectively, between screening dates in response
to market conditions.
WisdomTree, Inc. (“WisdomTree”), as Index provider,
currently uses the Global Industry Classification Standard (GICS®), a
widely recognized industry classification methodology developed by MSCI, Inc.
and Standard & Poor’s Financial Services LLC, to define companies within a
sector. The following sectors are included in the Index: communication services,
consumer discretionary, consumer staples, energy, financials, health care,
industrials, information technology, materials, real estate, and utilities. A
sector is comprised of multiple industries. For example, the energy sector is
comprised of companies in the energy equipment and services industry as well as
the oil, gas and consumable fuels industry. As of June 30, 2023, companies in
the consumer discretionary, health care and consumer staples sectors comprised a
significant portion (i.e., in excess of 15% of the Index’s total
weighting) of the Index; however, the Index's sector exposure may change from
time to time.
To the extent the Index concentrates
(i.e., holds 25% or more of its total assets) in the securities of a
particular industry or group of industries, the Fund will concentrate its
investments to approximately the same extent as the Index.
As of June 30, 2023, the
equity securities of companies domiciled in or otherwise tied to Europe,
particularly Switzerland and the United Kingdom comprised a significant portion
(i.e., in excess of 15% of the Index’s total weighting) of the Index,
although the Index’s geographic exposure may change from time to
time.
Principal Risks of Investing in the
Fund
You can lose money on your investment in
the Fund. While certain of the risks are prioritized in
terms of their relevance to the Fund’s investment strategies, most risks are
presented in alphabetical order. This ordering approach is designed to both
facilitate an investor’s understanding of the Fund’s risks and enable an
investor to easily locate and compare risks among funds. Each risk summarized
below is considered a “principal risk” of investing in the Fund, regardless of
the order in which it appears. Some or all of these risks may adversely affect
the Fund’s net asset value per share (“NAV”), trading price, yield, total return
and/or ability to meet its objective. For more information about the risks of
investing in the Fund, see the sections in the Fund’s Prospectus titled
“Additional Principal Risk Information About the Funds” and “Additional
Non-Principal Risk Information.”
■ |
Foreign Securities
Risk. Investments in non-U.S. securities involve political,
regulatory, and economic risks that may not be present in U.S. securities.
For example, investments in non-U.S. securities may be subject to risk of
loss due to foreign currency fluctuations, political or economic
instability, or geographic events that adversely impact issuers of foreign
securities. Investments in non-U.S. securities also may be subject to
withholding or other taxes and may be subject to additional trading,
settlement, custodial, and operational risks. These and other factors can
make investments in the Fund more volatile and potentially less liquid
than other types of investments and may be heightened in connection with
investments in developing or emerging markets
countries. |
|
|
WisdomTree Trust Prospectus 39 |
■ |
Growth Investing Risk.
Growth stocks, as a group, may be out of favor with the market and
underperform value stocks or the overall equity market. Growth stocks are
generally more sensitive to market movements than other types of stocks
primarily because their prices are based heavily on the future
expectations of the economy and the stock’s issuing
company. |
|
|
■ |
Dividend Paying Securities
Risk. Securities that pay dividends, as a group, may be out of favor
with the market and underperform the overall equity market or stocks of
companies that do not pay dividends. In addition, changes in the dividend
policies of the companies held by the Fund or the capital resources
available for such company’s dividend payments may adversely affect the
Fund. |
|
|
■ |
Investment Risk. As
with all investments, an investment in the Fund is subject to loss,
including the possible loss of the entire principal amount of an
investment, over short or long periods of
time. |
|
|
■ |
Market Risk. The
trading prices of equity securities and other instruments fluctuate in
response to a variety of factors, such as economic, financial or political
events that impact the entire market, market segments, or specific
issuers. The Fund’s NAV and market price may fluctuate significantly in
response to these and other factors. As a result, an investor could lose
money over short or long periods of time. |
|
|
■ |
Shares of the Fund May
Trade at Prices Other Than NAV. As with all exchange-traded funds
(“ETFs”), Fund shares may be bought and sold in the secondary market at
market prices. The market prices of the Fund’s shares in the secondary
market generally differ from the Fund’s daily NAV, and there may be times
when the market price of the shares is more than the NAV (premium) or less
than the NAV (discount). This risk is heightened in times of market
volatility or periods of steep market declines. Because securities held by
the Fund trade on, or have exposure to, foreign exchanges that are closed
when the Fund’s primary listing exchange is open, the Fund is likely to
experience premiums and discounts greater than those of domestic ETFs.
Additionally, in stressed market conditions, the market for the Fund’s
shares may become less liquid in response to deteriorating liquidity in
the markets for the Fund’s underlying portfolio
holdings. |
|
|
■ |
Consumer Discretionary
Sector Risk. The Fund currently invests a significant portion of its
assets in the consumer discretionary sector, and therefore, the Fund’s
performance could be negatively impacted by events affecting this sector.
The consumer discretionary sector includes, for example, automobile,
textile and retail companies, as well as hotels, restaurants and other
leisure facilities. This sector can be significantly affected by, among
other things, changes in domestic and international economies, exchange
and interest rates, economic growth, worldwide demand, supply chain
constraints, social trends, consumers’ disposable income levels, and
propensity to spend. |
|
|
■ |
Consumer Staples Sector
Risk. The Fund currently invests a significant portion of its assets
in the consumer staples sector, and therefore, the Fund’s performance
could be negatively impacted by events affecting this sector. The consumer
staples sector includes, for example, food and drug retail and companies
whose primary lines of business are food, beverage and other household
items, including agricultural products. This sector can be significantly
affected by, among other things, changes in price and availability of
underlying commodities, rising energy prices and global and economic
conditions. |
|
|
■ |
Currency Exchange Rate
Risk. Changes in currency exchange rates and the relative value of
foreign currencies will affect the value of the Fund’s investment and the
value of your Fund shares. Currency exchange rates can be very volatile
and can change quickly and unpredictably. As a result, the value of an
investment in the Fund may also change quickly, unpredictably, and without
warning, and you may lose money. |
|
|
■ |
Cybersecurity Risk. The
Fund and its service providers may be susceptible to operational and
information security risks resulting from a breach in cybersecurity,
including cyber-attacks. A breach in cybersecurity, intentional or
unintentional, may adversely impact the Fund in many ways, including, but
not limited to, disruption of the Fund’s operational capacity, loss of
proprietary information, theft or corruption of data, denial-of-service
attacks on websites or network resources, and the unauthorized release of
confidential information. Cyber-attacks affecting the Fund’s third-party
service providers, market makers, institutional investors authorized to
purchase and redeem shares directly from the Fund (i.e., Authorized
Participants), or the issuers of securities in which the Fund invests may
subject the Fund to many of the same risks associated with direct
cybersecurity
breaches. |
40 WisdomTree
Trust Prospectus |
|
|
■ |
Geographic Investment
Risk. To the extent the Fund invests a significant portion of its
assets in securities of companies of a single country or region, it is
more likely to be impacted by events or conditions affecting that country
or region. |
Investments in
Europe
Many European countries are members of the European Union (“EU”)
as well as the European Economic and Monetary Union (“EMU”) and, as a result,
the economies and markets of European countries can be closely connected and
largely interdependent. As such, adverse events in one European country may have
effects across Europe. Investments in Europe are also subject to risks stemming
from the uncertain consequences of the United Kingdom's (“U.K.”) exit of the EU
single market and customs union (“Brexit”). Further, Russia's invasion of the
Ukraine, and the continued hostilities in the region, have caused increased
volatility in European markets and led to broad ranging economic sanctions
against Russia. Uncertainties surrounding the duration and potential increased
geographic scope of hostilities may create additional volatility in European and
global markets. Any of the above could have a negative effect on the Fund's
investments in Europe.
Investments in
Switzerland
The Swiss economy is heavily dependent on the economies of
the United States and other European nations as key trading partners. In
particular, Switzerland depends on international trade and exports to generate
economic growth. As a result, future changes in the price or the demand for
Swiss products or services by these trading partners, or changes in these
countries’ economies, trade regulations or currency exchange rates could
adversely impact the Swiss economy.
Investments in the
United Kingdom
Investments in the United Kingdom (“U.K.”) are subject to
risks associated with uncertainties surrounding Brexit and changes in the
economic health of its primary trade partners across Europe and the United
States. The U.K.’s economy is also heavily dependent on the export of financial
services and may be impacted by a slowdown in the financial services
sector.
■ |
Geopolitical Risk. Some
countries and regions in which the Fund invests have experienced security
concerns, war, threats of war, aggression and/or conflict, terrorism,
economic uncertainty, sanctions or the threat of sanctions, natural and
environmental disasters, the spread of infectious illness, widespread
disease or other public health issues and/or systemic market dislocations
(including due to events outside of such countries or regions) that have
led, and in the future may lead, to increased short-term market volatility
and may have adverse long-term effects on the U.S. and world economies and
markets generally, each of which may negatively impact the Fund’s
investments. |
|
|
■ |
Health Care Sector
Risk. The Fund currently invests a significant portion of its assets
in the health care sector, and therefore, the Fund’s performance could be
negatively impacted by events affecting this sector. The health care
sector includes, for example, biotechnology, pharmaceutical, health care
facilities, and health care equipment and supply companies. This sector
can be significantly affected by, among other things, lapsing patent
protection, technological developments that make drugs obsolete,
government regulation, price controls, and approvals for
drugs. |
|
|
■ |
Index and Data Risk.
The Fund is not “actively” managed and seeks to track the price and yield
performance, before fees and expenses, of the Index. The Index may not
perform as intended. The Index provider has the right to make adjustments
to the Index or to cease making the Index available without regard to the
particular interests of the Fund or its shareholders. If the computers or
other facilities of the Index provider, Index calculation agent, data
providers and/or relevant stock exchange malfunction for any reason,
calculation and dissemination of Index values may be delayed and trading
in Fund shares may be suspended for a period of time. Errors in Index
data, Index calculations and/or the construction of the Index may occur
from time to time and may not be identified and/or corrected by the Index
provider, Index calculation agent or other applicable party for a period
of time or at all, which may have an adverse impact on the Fund and its
shareholders. The potential risk of continuing error may be particularly
heightened in the case of the Index, which is generally not used as a
benchmark by other funds or managers. |
|
|
■ |
Investment Style Risk.
The Fund invests in the securities included in, or representative of, the
Index regardless of their investment merit. The Fund does not attempt to
outperform the Index or take defensive positions in declining markets. As
a result, the Fund’s performance may be adversely affected by a general
decline in the market segments relating to the
Index. |
|
|
WisdomTree Trust Prospectus 41 |
■ |
Issuer-Specific Risk.
Issuer-specific events, including changes in the actual or perceived
financial condition of an issuer, can have a negative impact on the value
of the Fund. |
|
|
■ |
Large-Capitalization
Investing Risk. The Fund may invest in the securities of
large-capitalization companies. As a result, the Fund’s performance may be
adversely affected if securities of these companies underperform
securities of smaller capitalization companies or the market as a whole.
Large-capitalization companies may adapt more slowly to new competitive
challenges and be subject to slower growth during times of economic
expansion. |
|
|
■ |
Mid-Capitalization
Investing Risk. The Fund may invest in the securities of
mid-capitalization companies. As a result, the Fund’s performance may be
adversely affected if securities of these companies underperform
securities of other capitalization ranges or the market as a whole.
Securities of mid-capitalization companies are often less stable and more
vulnerable to market volatility and adverse economic developments than
securities of larger companies, but mid-capitalization companies may also
underperform the securities of small-capitalization companies because
medium capitalization companies are more mature and are subject to slower
growth during economic expansion. |
|
|
■ |
Non-Correlation Risk.
As with all index funds, the performance of the Fund and that of its Index
may differ from each other for a variety of reasons. For example, the Fund
incurs operating expenses and portfolio transaction costs, while also
managing cash flows and potential operational inefficiencies, not incurred
by its Index. In addition, when markets are volatile, the ability to sell
securities at fair market prices may be adversely affected and may result
in additional trading costs and/or increase the non-correlation risk. The
Fund's use of sampling techniques also may affect its ability to achieve
close correlation with its Index. |
|
|
■ |
Non-Diversification
Risk. The Fund is considered to be non-diversified, which means that
it may invest more of its assets in the securities of a single issuer or a
smaller number of issuers than if it were a diversified fund. To the
extent the Fund invests a significant percentage of its assets in a
limited number of issuers, the Fund is subject to the risks of investing
in those few issuers, and may be more susceptible to a single adverse
economic or regulatory occurrence. As a result, changes in the market
value of a single security could cause greater fluctuations in the value
of Fund shares than would occur in a diversified
fund. |
Fund
Performance
Historical Fund
performance, which varies over time, can provide an indication of the risks of
investing in the Fund. The bar chart that follows shows the annual total returns
of the Fund for each full calendar year since the Fund commenced operations, or
the past 10 calendar years, as applicable. The table that
follows the bar chart shows the Fund’s average annual total returns, both before
and after taxes. This table also shows how the Fund’s performance compares to
the Index and the MSCI EAFE Index, a relevant broad-based securities index.
Index returns do not reflect deductions for fees, expenses or taxes. All returns
assume reinvestment of dividends and distributions. The Fund’s past performance
(before and after taxes) is not necessarily an indication of how the Fund will
perform in the future. Updated performance information
for the Fund is available online on the Fund’s website at www.wisdomtree.com/investments.
Year |
Return |
2017 |
31.39% |
2018 |
-17.04% |
2019 |
29.91% |
2020 |
16.64% |
2021 |
12.38% |
2022 |
-20.15% |
The Fund’s
year-to-date total return
as of June 30,
2023 was 13.41%.
Best and Worst Quarter
Returns (for the periods reflected in the bar chart above)
|
Return |
Quarter/Year |
Highest
Return |
16.72% |
2Q/2020 June 30,
2020 |
42 WisdomTree
Trust Prospectus |
|
|
|
Return |
Quarter/Year |
Lowest
Return |
(18.68)% |
2Q/2022 June 30,
2022 |
After-tax returns are
calculated using the highest historical individual federal marginal income tax
rates and do not reflect the impact of state and local
taxes. Actual after-tax returns
depend on your tax situation and may differ from those shown and are not
relevant if you hold your shares through tax-deferred arrangements, such as
401(k) plans or individual retirement accounts. In some cases, the return
after taxes may exceed the return before taxes due to an assumed tax benefit
from any losses on a sale of Fund shares at the end of the measurement
period.
Average Annual Total Returns for the periods
ending December 31, 2022
WisdomTree International
Quality Dividend Growth Fund |
1 Year |
5 Years |
Since Inception April 7,
2016 |
Return Before Taxes Based on
NAV |
(20.15)% |
2.44% |
5.58% |
Return After Taxes on
Distributions |
(20.77)% |
1.94% |
5.13% |
Return After Taxes on
Distributions and Sale of Fund Shares |
(11.23)% |
1.99% |
4.51% |
WisdomTree International
Quality Dividend Growth Index (Reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or
taxes) |
(20.30)% |
2.81% |
5.95% |
MSCI EAFE Index (Reflects no
deduction for fees, expenses or taxes) |
(14.45)% |
1.54% |
5.59% |
Management
Investment Adviser and
Sub-Adviser
WisdomTree Asset
Management, Inc. (“WisdomTree Asset Management” or the “Adviser”) serves as
investment adviser to the Fund. Mellon Investments Corporation (the
“Sub-Adviser”) serves as sub-adviser to the Fund.
Portfolio
Managers
The Fund is managed by the
Sub-Adviser’s Equity Index Strategies Portfolio Management team. The individual
members of the team jointly and primarily responsible for the day-to-day
management of the Fund’s portfolio are identified below.
Marlene Walker-Smith, a
Director, Head of Equity Index Portfolio Management, has been a portfolio
manager of the Fund since October 2020.
David France, CFA, a Vice
President, Senior Portfolio Manager and Team Manager, has been a portfolio
manager of the Fund since June 2021.
Todd Frysinger, CFA, a Vice
President, Senior Portfolio Manager and Team Manager, has been a portfolio
manager of the Fund since June 2021.
Vlasta Sheremeta, CFA, a
Vice President, Senior Portfolio Manager and Team Manager, has been a portfolio
manager of the Fund since June 2021.
Michael Stoll, a Vice
President, Senior Portfolio Manager and Team Manager, has been a portfolio
manager of the Fund since June 2021.
Buying and Selling Fund
Shares
The Fund is an ETF. This
means that individual shares of the Fund are listed on a national securities
exchange, such as Cboe BZX Exchange, Inc., and may only be purchased and sold in
the secondary market through a broker-dealer at market prices. Because Fund
shares trade at market prices rather than NAV, shares may trade at a price
greater than NAV (premium) or less than NAV (discount). In addition, an investor
may incur costs attributable to the difference between the highest price a buyer
is willing to pay to purchase shares (bid) and the lowest price a seller is
willing to accept for shares (ask) when buying and selling shares in the
secondary market (the “bid/ask spread”). Recent information regarding the Fund,
including its NAV, market price, premiums and discounts, and bid/ask spreads, is
available on the Fund’s website at www.wisdomtree.com/investments.
The Fund issues and redeems
shares at NAV only in large blocks of shares (“Creation Units”), which only
certain institutions or large investors (typically market makers or other
broker-dealers) may purchase or redeem. The Fund issues and redeems Creation
Units in exchange for a portfolio of securities and/or U.S. cash.
|
|
WisdomTree Trust Prospectus 43 |
Tax Information
The Fund intends to make
distributions that may be taxed as ordinary income, qualified dividend income,
or capital gains.
Payments to
Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries
If you purchase shares of
the Fund through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a
bank) (an “Intermediary”), WisdomTree Asset Management or its affiliates may pay
Intermediaries for certain activities related to the Fund, including
participation in activities that are designed to make Intermediaries more
knowledgeable about exchange-traded products, including the Fund, or for other
activities, such as marketing, educational training or other initiatives related
to the sale or promotion of Fund shares. These payments may create a conflict of
interest by influencing the Intermediary and your salesperson to recommend the
Fund over another investment. Any such arrangements do not result in increased
Fund expenses. Ask your salesperson or visit the Intermediary’s website for more
information.
44 WisdomTree
Trust Prospectus |
|
|
WisdomTree International Multifactor
Fund
Investment
Objective
The WisdomTree International
Multifactor Fund (the “Fund”) seeks capital appreciation.
Fees and Expenses of the
Fund
The following table describes
the fees and expenses you may pay if you buy, hold and sell shares of the Fund.
You may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to
financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the table and example
below. The fees are expressed as a percentage of the Fund’s average net
assets.
Shareholder Fees (fees paid
directly from your investment) |
None |
Annual Fund Operating Expenses
(expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your
investment) |
|
Management Fees |
0.38% |
Distribution and/or Service
(12b-1) Fees |
None |
Other Expenses |
0.00%1 |
Total Annual Fund Operating
Expenses |
0.38%1 |
Example
The following example is
intended to help retail investors compare the cost of investing in the Fund with
the cost of investing in other funds. It illustrates the hypothetical expenses
that such investors would incur over various periods if they were to invest
$10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated and then redeem all of their
shares at the end of those periods. This example assumes that the Fund provides
a return of 5% a year and that operating expenses remain the same. This example
does not include the brokerage commissions that retail investors may pay to buy
and sell shares of the Fund. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower,
based on these assumptions, your costs would be:
|
1 Year |
3 Years |
5 Years |
10 Years |
|
$ 39 |
$ 122 |
$ 213 |
$ 480 |
Portfolio
Turnover
The Fund pays transaction
costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over”
its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction
costs and may result in higher taxes when Fund shares are held in a taxable
account. These costs, which are not reflected in annual fund operating expenses
or in the example, affect the Fund’s performance. During the most recent fiscal
period, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 118% of the
average value of its portfolio, excluding the value of portfolio securities
received or delivered as a result of in-kind creations or redemptions of the
Fund’s capital shares.
Principal Investment Strategies of the
Fund
The Fund, an exchange-traded
fund (“ETF”), is actively managed using a model-based approach.
The Fund seeks to achieve
its investment objective by investing primarily in equity securities of
developed markets, excluding the United States and Canada, that exhibit certain
characteristics that the investment adviser, WisdomTree Asset Management, Inc.
(“WisdomTree”), believes to be indicative of positive future returns based on a
model developed by WisdomTree. WisdomTree seeks to identify equity securities of
developed countries, excluding the United States and Canada, that have the
highest potential for returns based on proprietary measures of fundamental
factors, such as value and quality, and technical factors, such as momentum and
correlation. WisdomTree employs a quantitative model to identify which
securities the Fund might purchase and sell and opportune times for purchases
and sales. At a minimum, the Fund’s portfolio will be rebalanced quarterly
according to WisdomTree’s quantitative model, although a more active approach
may be taken depending on such factors as market conditions and investment
opportunities, and the number of holdings in the Fund may vary.
WisdomTree seeks to manage
the Fund’s currency risk by dynamically hedging currency fluctuations in the
relative value of the applicable foreign currencies against the U.S. dollar,
ranging from a 0% to 100% hedge. The hedge ratios on such foreign currencies are
adjusted as frequently as weekly utilizing signals such as momentum, interest
rate differentials, volatility, and cross-asset returns. The Fund uses forward
currency contracts and/or futures contracts to the extent foreign currencies are
hedged.
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WisdomTree Trust Prospectus 45 |
Under normal circumstances,
the Fund will invest at least 80% of its net assets in equity securities of
developed markets, excluding the United States and Canada. The Fund generally
expects to invest in large and mid-capitalization companies, but the Fund may
also invest in small-capitalization companies.
The Fund currently uses the Global Industry
Classification Standard (GICS®), a widely recognized industry
classification methodology developed by MSCI, Inc. and Standard & Poor’s
Financial Services LLC, to define companies within a sector. The following
sectors are included in the Fund: communication services, consumer
discretionary, consumer staples, energy, financials, health care, industrials,
information technology, materials, real estate, and utilities. A sector is
comprised of multiple industries. For example, the energy sector is comprised of
companies in the energy equipment and services industry as well as the oil, gas
and consumable fuels industry. As of June 30, 2023, companies in the industrials
sector comprised a significant portion (i.e., in excess of 15%) of the
Fund’s assets; however, the Fund’s sector exposure may change from time to
time.
As of June 30, 2023, the
Fund invested a significant portion (i.e., in excess of 15%) of its
assets in the equity securities of companies domiciled in or otherwise tied to,
and thus had significant investment exposure to, Japan and Europe (including
exposure to the United Kingdom), although the Fund’s geographic exposure may
change from time to time.
Principal Risks of Investing in the
Fund
You can lose money on your investment in
the Fund. While certain of the risks are prioritized in
terms of their relevance to the Fund’s investment strategies, most risks are
presented in alphabetical order. This ordering approach is designed to both
facilitate an investor’s understanding of the Fund’s risks and enable an
investor to easily locate and compare risks among funds. Each risk summarized
below is considered a “principal risk” of investing in the Fund, regardless of
the order in which it appears. Some or all of these risks may adversely affect
the Fund’s net asset value per share (“NAV”), trading price, yield, total return
and/or ability to meet its objective. For more information about the risks of
investing in the Fund, see the sections in the Fund’s Prospectus titled
“Additional Principal Risk Information About the Funds” and “Additional
Non-Principal Risk Information.”
■ |
Foreign Securities
Risk. Investments in non-U.S. securities involve political,
regulatory, and economic risks that may not be present in U.S. securities.
For example, investments in non-U.S. securities may be subject to risk of
loss due to foreign currency fluctuations, political or economic
instability, or geographic events that adversely impact issuers of foreign
securities. Investments in non-U.S. securities also may be subject to
withholding or other taxes and may be subject to additional trading,
settlement, custodial, and operational risks. These and other factors can
make investments in the Fund more volatile and potentially less liquid
than other types of investments and may be heightened in connection
with investments in developing or emerging markets
countries. |
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■ |
Investment Risk. As
with all investments, an investment in the Fund is subject to loss,
including the possible loss of the entire principal amount of an
investment, over short or long periods of
time. |
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■ |
Market Risk. The
trading prices of equity securities and other instruments fluctuate in
response to a variety of factors, such as economic, financial or political
events that impact the entire market, market segments, or specific
issuers. The Fund’s NAV and market price may fluctuate significantly in
response to these and other factors. As a result, an investor could lose
money over short or long periods of time. |
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■ |
Shares of the Fund May
Trade at Prices Other Than NAV. As with all ETFs, Fund shares may be
bought and sold in the secondary market at market prices. The market
prices of the Fund’s shares in the secondary market generally differ from
the Fund’s daily NAV, and there may be times when the market price of the
shares is more than the NAV (premium) or less than the NAV (discount).
This risk is heightened in times of market volatility or periods of steep
market declines. Because securities held by the Fund trade on, or have
exposure to, foreign exchanges that are closed when the Fund’s primary
listing exchange is open, the Fund is likely to experience premiums and
discounts greater than those of domestic ETFs. Additionally, in stressed
market conditions, the market for the Fund’s shares may become less liquid
in response to deteriorating liquidity in the markets for the Fund’s
underlying portfolio holdings. |
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Active Management Risk.
The Fund is actively managed using proprietary investment strategies
and processes. There can be no guarantee that these strategies and
processes will be successful or that the Fund will achieve its investment
objective. |
46 WisdomTree
Trust Prospectus |
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Cybersecurity Risk. The
Fund and its service providers may be susceptible to operational and
information security risks resulting from a breach in cybersecurity,
including cyber-attacks. A breach in cybersecurity, intentional or
unintentional, may adversely impact the Fund in many ways, including, but
not limited to, disruption of the Fund’s operational capacity, loss of
proprietary information, theft or corruption of data, denial-of-service
attacks on websites or network resources, and the unauthorized release of
confidential information. Cyber-attacks affecting the Fund’s third-party
service providers, market makers, institutional investors authorized to
purchase and redeem shares directly from the Fund (i.e., Authorized
Participants), or the issuers of securities in which the Fund invests may
subject the Fund to many of the same risks associated with direct
cybersecurity breaches. |
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Derivatives Risk.
Derivatives are financial instruments that derive their performance
from an underlying reference asset, such as a currency or a commodity.
Generally, derivatives are sophisticated investments that may pose risks
that are different from or greater than those posed by investing directly
in the underlying reference asset. For example, the return on a derivative
instrument may not correlate with that of its underlying reference asset,
and minimal requisite initial investments necessary to purchase
derivatives positions may expose the Fund to losses in excess of those
amounts. Derivatives also can be volatile and may be less liquid than
other investments. As a result, the value of an investment in the Fund may
change quickly and without warning and you may lose money. The Fund
expects to use forward currency contracts and/or currency futures
contracts to implement its principal investment strategies. A forward
currency contract is an agreement to buy or sell a specific currency on a
future date at a set price thereby effectively locking in the exchange
rate for the purchase or sale of that currency. Forward currency contracts
are traded in the over-the-counter market and generally are not subject to
initial or upfront margin requirements. As a result, forward currency
contracts are particularly subject to counterparty credit risk, including
that a counterparty may be unwilling or unable to meet its contractual
obligations. A currency futures contract is an exchange-traded contract
that provides for the future purchase of sale of a currency at a specified
price of another currency. Currency futures contracts are subject to the
risk of imperfect correlation between the movements in the price of the
futures contract and the underlying currency. |
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■ |
Geographic Investment
Risk. To the extent the Fund invests a significant portion of its
assets in securities of companies of a single country or region, it is
more likely to be impacted by events or conditions affecting that country
or region. |
Investments in
Japan
Investments in Japan are subject to risks associated with its
economy's dependence on the export market and consistent government support of
its export market. Slowdowns in the Japanese export market may have a negative
impact on the Japanese economy as a whole. Japan is also subject to risks
associated with natural disasters and escalating political tension in the
region.
Investments in
Europe
Many European countries are members of the European Union (“EU”)
as well as the European Economic and Monetary Union (“EMU”) and, as a result,
the economies and markets of European countries can be closely connected and
largely interdependent. As such, adverse events in one European country may have
effects across Europe. Investments in Europe are also subject to risks stemming
from the uncertain consequences of the United Kingdom's (“U.K.”) exit of the EU
single market and customs union (“Brexit”). Further, Russia's invasion of the
Ukraine, and the continued hostilities in the region, have caused increased
volatility in European markets and led to broad ranging economic sanctions
against Russia. Uncertainties surrounding the duration and potential increased
geographic scope of hostilities may create additional volatility in European and
global markets. Any of the above could have a negative effect on the Fund's
investments in Europe.
Investments in the
United Kingdom
Investments in the United Kingdom (“U.K.”) are subject to
risks associated with uncertainties surrounding Brexit and changes in the
economic health of its primary trade partners across Europe and the United
States. The U.K.'s economy is also heavily dependent on the export of financial
services and may be impacted by a slowdown in the financial services
sector.
■ |
Geopolitical Risk. Some
countries and regions in which the Fund invests have experienced security
concerns, war, threats of war, aggression and/or conflict, terrorism,
economic uncertainty, sanctions or the threat of sanctions, natural and
environmental disasters, the spread of infectious illness, widespread
disease or other public health issues and/or systemic market dislocations
(including due to events outside of such countries or regions) that have
led, and in the future may lead, to increased short-term market volatility
and may have adverse long-term effects on the U.S. and world economies and
markets generally, each of which may negatively impact the Fund’s
investments. |
|
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WisdomTree Trust Prospectus 47 |
■ |
Hedging Risk. The Fund
seeks to “hedge” or minimize the impact of fluctuations in the relative
value of foreign currencies against the U.S. dollar. The Fund seeks to
hedge against such fluctuations largely through the use of derivatives.
Such derivatives may not perform as intended for a variety of reasons,
including a lack of correlation between the derivative and the underlying
currency, and there can be no assurance that the Fund’s hedging strategies
and transactions will be effective. In addition, to minimize transaction
costs, or for other reasons, the Fund’s exposure to foreign currencies may
not be fully hedged at all times. Currency exchange rates can be volatile,
changing quickly and unpredictably. As a result, the value of an
investment in the Fund may also change quickly, unpredictably, and without
warning, and you may lose money. For example, the value of an investment
in the Fund could be significantly and adversely affected if the value of
foreign currencies appreciate relative to the U.S. dollar at the same time
the value of the Fund’s equity holdings depreciate and the Fund’s
derivatives investments are not successful in offsetting a significant
portion of the Fund’s exposure to such foreign
currencies. |
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Industrials Sector
Risk. The Fund currently invests a significant portion of its assets
in the industrials sector, and therefore, the Fund’s performance could be
negatively impacted by events affecting this sector. The industrials
sector includes, for example, aerospace and defense, non-residential
construction, engineering, machinery, transportation, and commercial and
professional services companies. This sector can be significantly affected
by, among other things, business cycle fluctuations, worldwide economy
growth, international political and economic developments, exchange rates,
commodity prices, environmental issues, government and corporate spending,
supply and demand for specific products and manufacturing, and government
regulation. |
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■ |
Issuer-Specific Risk.
Issuer-specific events, including changes in the actual or perceived
financial condition of an issuer, can have a negative impact on the value
of the Fund. |
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Large-Capitalization
Investing Risk. The Fund may invest in the securities of
large-capitalization companies. As a result, the Fund’s performance may be
adversely affected if securities of these companies underperform
securities of smaller capitalization companies or the market as a whole.
Large-capitalization companies may adapt more slowly to new competitive
challenges and be subject to slower growth during times of economic
expansion. |
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■ |
Mid-Capitalization
Investing Risk. The Fund may invest in the securities of
mid-capitalization companies. As a result, the Fund’s performance may be
adversely affected if securities of these companies underperform
securities of other capitalization ranges or the market as a whole.
Securities of mid-capitalization companies are often less stable and more
vulnerable to market volatility and adverse economic developments than
securities of larger companies, but mid-capitalization companies may also
underperform the securities of small-capitalization companies because
medium capitalization companies are more mature and are subject to slower
growth during economic expansion. |
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Models and Data Risk.
While the Fund is actively managed, the Fund’s investment process is
expected to be heavily dependent on quantitative models and the models may
not perform as intended. Errors in data used in the models may occur from
time to time and may not be identified and/or corrected, which may have an
adverse impact on the Fund and its
shareholders. |
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Non-Diversification
Risk. The Fund is considered to be non-diversified, which means that
it may invest more of its assets in the securities of a single issuer or a
smaller number of issuers than if it were a diversified fund. To the
extent the Fund invests a significant percentage of its assets in a
limited number of issuers, the Fund is subject to the risks of investing
in those few issuers, and may be more susceptible to a single adverse
economic or regulatory occurrence. As a result, changes in the market
value of a single security could cause greater fluctuations in the value
of Fund shares than would occur in a diversified
fund. |
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Portfolio Turnover
Risk. The Fund’s investment strategy may result in a high portfolio
turnover rate. Higher portfolio turnover may result in the Fund paying
higher transaction costs and the distribution of additional capital gains,
which may generate greater tax liabilities for shareholders who hold the
shares in taxable accounts. Increased transaction costs and distributions
of capital gains may negatively affect the Fund’s
performance. |
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Small-Capitalization
Investing Risk. The Fund may invest in the securities of
small-capitalization companies. As a result, the Fund may be more volatile
than funds that invest in larger, more established companies. The
securities of small-capitalization companies generally trade in lower
volumes and are subject to greater and more unpredictable price changes
than larger capitalization stocks or the stock market as a whole.
Small-capitalization companies may be particularly sensitive to adverse
economic developments as well as changes in interest rates, government
regulation, borrowing costs and
earnings. |
48 WisdomTree
Trust Prospectus |
|
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Fund
Performance
Historical Fund
performance, which varies over time, can provide an indication of the risks of
investing in the Fund. The bar chart that follows shows the annual total returns
of the Fund for each full calendar year since the Fund commenced operations, or
the past 10 calendar years, as applicable. The table that
follows the bar chart shows the Fund’s average annual total returns, both before
and after taxes. This table also shows how the Fund’s performance compares to
the MSCI EAFE Local Currency Index, a relevant broad-based securities index. In
addition, performance also is shown for the MSCI EAFE Index, another comparative
index that also represents the asset class in which the Fund invests. Index
returns do not reflect deductions for fees, expenses or taxes. All returns
assume reinvestment of dividends and distributions. The Fund’s past performance
(before and after taxes) is not necessarily an indication of how the Fund will
perform in the future. Updated performance information
for the Fund is available online on the Fund’s website at www.wisdomtree.com/investments.
Year |
Return |
2019 |
15.93% |
2020 |
-0.74% |
2021 |
10.78% |
2022 |
-7.25% |
The Fund’s
year-to-date total return
as of June 30,
2023 was 8.24%.
Best and Worst Quarter
Returns (for the periods reflected in the bar chart above)
|
Return |
Quarter/Year |
Highest
Return |
11.58% |
2Q/2020 June 30,
2020 |
Lowest
Return |
(18.06)% |
1Q/2020 March 31,
2020 |
After-tax returns are
calculated using the highest historical individual federal marginal income tax
rates and do not reflect the impact of state and local
taxes. Actual after-tax returns
depend on your tax situation and may differ from those shown and are not
relevant if you hold your shares through tax-deferred arrangements, such as
401(k) plans or individual retirement accounts. In some cases, the return
after taxes may exceed the return before taxes due to an assumed tax benefit
from any losses on a sale of Fund shares at the end of the measurement
period.
Average Annual Total Returns for the periods
ending December 31, 2022
WisdomTree International
Multifactor Fund |
1 Year |
Since Inception August 10,
2018 |
Return Before Taxes Based on
NAV |
(7.25)% |
2.08% |
Return After Taxes on
Distributions |
(7.86)% |
1.52% |
Return After Taxes on
Distributions and Sale of Fund Shares |
(3.63)% |
1.74% |
MSCI EAFE Local Currency Index
(Reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes) |
(7.00)% |
4.30% |
MSCI EAFE Index (Reflects no
deduction for fees, expenses or taxes) |
(14.45)% |
2.46% |
Management
Investment Adviser and
Sub-Adviser
WisdomTree Asset
Management, Inc. (“WisdomTree Asset Management” or the “Adviser”) serves as
investment adviser to the Fund. Mellon Investments Corporation (the
“Sub-Adviser”) serves as sub-adviser to the Fund.
|
|
WisdomTree Trust Prospectus 49 |
Portfolio
Managers
The Fund is managed by the
Sub-Adviser’s Equity Index Strategies Portfolio Management team. The individual
members of the team jointly and primarily responsible for the day-to-day
management of the Fund’s portfolio are identified below.
Marlene Walker-Smith, a
Director, Head of Equity Index Portfolio Management, has been a portfolio
manager of the Fund since October 2020.
David France, CFA, a Vice
President, Senior Portfolio Manager and Team Manager, has been a portfolio
manager of the Fund since June 2021.
Todd Frysinger, CFA, a Vice
President, Senior Portfolio Manager and Team Manager, has been a portfolio
manager of the Fund since June 2021.
Vlasta Sheremeta, CFA, a
Vice President, Senior Portfolio Manager and Team Manager, has been a portfolio
manager of the Fund since June 2021.
Michael Stoll, a Vice
President, Senior Portfolio Manager and Team Manager, has been a portfolio
manager of the Fund since June 2021.
Buying and Selling Fund
Shares
The Fund is an ETF. This
means that individual shares of the Fund are listed on a national securities
exchange, such as NYSE Arca, and may only be purchased and sold in the secondary
market through a broker-dealer at market prices. Because Fund shares trade at
market prices rather than NAV, shares may trade at a price greater than NAV
(premium) or less than NAV (discount). In addition, an investor may incur costs
attributable to the difference between the highest price a buyer is willing to
pay to purchase shares (bid) and the lowest price a seller is willing to accept
for shares (ask) when buying and selling shares in the secondary market (the
“bid/ask spread”). Recent information regarding the Fund, including its NAV,
market price, premiums and discounts, and bid/ask spreads, is available on the
Fund’s website at www.wisdomtree.com/investments.
The Fund issues and redeems
shares at NAV only in large blocks of shares (“Creation Units”), which only
certain institutions or large investors (typically market makers or other
broker-dealers) may purchase or redeem. The Fund issues and redeems Creation
Units in exchange for a portfolio of securities and/or U.S. cash.
Tax Information
The Fund intends to make
distributions that may be taxed as ordinary income, qualified dividend income,
or capital gains.
Payments to
Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries
If you purchase shares of
the Fund through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a
bank) (an “Intermediary”), WisdomTree Asset Management or its affiliates may pay
Intermediaries for certain activities related to the Fund, including
participation in activities that are designed to make Intermediaries more
knowledgeable about exchange-traded products, including the Fund, or for other
activities, such as marketing, educational training or other initiatives related
to the sale or promotion of Fund shares. These payments may create a conflict of
interest by influencing the Intermediary and your salesperson to recommend the
Fund over another investment. Any such arrangements do not result in increased
Fund expenses. Ask your salesperson or visit the Intermediary’s website for more
information.
50 WisdomTree
Trust Prospectus |
|
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WisdomTree Europe Quality Dividend Growth
Fund
Investment
Objective
The WisdomTree Europe Quality
Dividend Growth Fund (the “Fund”) seeks to track the price and yield
performance, before fees and expenses, of the WisdomTree Europe Quality Dividend
Growth Index (the “Index”).
Fees and Expenses of the
Fund
The following table describes
the fees and expenses you may pay if you buy, hold and sell shares of the Fund.
You may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to
financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the table and example
below. The fees are expressed as a percentage of the Fund’s average net
assets.
Shareholder Fees (fees paid
directly from your investment) |
None |
Annual Fund Operating Expenses
(expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your
investment) |
|
Management Fees |
0.58% |
Distribution and/or Service
(12b-1) Fees |
None |
Other Expenses |
0.00%1 |
Total Annual Fund Operating
Expenses |
0.58%1 |
Example
The following example is
intended to help retail investors compare the cost of investing in the Fund with
the cost of investing in other funds. It illustrates the hypothetical expenses
that such investors would incur over various periods if they were to invest
$10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated and then redeem all of their
shares at the end of those periods. This example assumes that the Fund provides
a return of 5% a year and that operating expenses remain the same. This example
does not include the brokerage commissions that retail investors may pay to buy
and sell shares of the Fund. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower,
based on these assumptions, your costs would be:
|
1 Year |
3 Years |
5 Years |
10 Years |
|
$ 59 |
$ 186 |
$ 324 |
$ 726 |
Portfolio
Turnover
The Fund pays transaction
costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over”
its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction
costs and may result in higher taxes when Fund shares are held in a taxable
account. These costs, which are not reflected in annual fund operating expenses
or in the example, affect the Fund’s performance. During the most recent fiscal
year, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 43% of the average
value of its portfolio, excluding the value of portfolio securities received or
delivered as a result of in-kind creations or redemptions of the Fund’s capital
shares.
Principal Investment Strategies of the
Fund
The Fund employs a “passive
management” – or indexing – investment approach designed to track the
performance of the Index. The Fund generally uses a representative sampling
strategy to achieve its investment objective, meaning it generally will invest
in a sample of the securities in the Index whose risk, return and other
characteristics resemble the risk, return and other characteristics of the Index
as a whole. Under normal circumstances, at least 80% of the Fund’s total assets
(exclusive of collateral held from securities lending) will be invested in
component securities of the Index and investments that have economic
characteristics that are substantially identical to the economic characteristics
of such component securities.
The Index consists of
dividend-paying common stocks of companies with growth characteristics that are
incorporated and listed on a stock exchange in one of the following countries:
Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy,
Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland or the United Kingdom.
The Index is a fundamentally weighted index that is generally comprised of the
300 companies with the best combined rank of certain growth and quality factors,
specifically: medium-term earnings growth expectations, return on equity, and
return on assets. To be eligible for inclusion in the Index, a company must meet
the following criteria as of the annual Index screening date: (i) payment of at
least $5 million in cash dividends on common shares during the preceding annual
cycle; (ii) market capitalization of at least $1 billion; (iii) median daily
dollar trading volume of at least $200,000 for each of the preceding three
months; (iv) trading of at least 250,000 shares per month for each of the
preceding six months; and (v) an earnings yield greater than the dividend
yield.
|
|
WisdomTree Trust Prospectus 51 |
Securities are weighted in
the Index based on dividends paid over the prior annual cycle. Companies that
pay a greater total dollar amount of dividends are more heavily weighted. To
derive a company’s initial Index weight, (i) multiply the U.S. dollar
value of the company’s annual gross dividend per share by the number of common
shares outstanding for that company (the “Cash Dividend Factor”); (ii) calculate
the Cash Dividend Factor for each company; (iii) add together all of the
companies’ Cash Dividend Factors; and (iv) divide the company’s Cash
Dividend Factor by the sum of all Cash Dividend Factors. On the Index’s annual
screening date, the maximum weight of any security in the Index is capped at 5%,
and the Index caps the weight of components exposed to any one country at 25%
and any one sector (except for the real estate sector) at 20%. The weight of
components exposed to the real estate sector is capped at 15%. The Index also
may adjust the weight of individual components on the annual screening date
based on certain quantitative thresholds or limits tied to key metrics of a
component security, such as its trading volume. To the extent the Index reduces
an individual component’s weight, the excess weight will be reallocated pro rata
among the other components. Similarly, if the Index increases a component’s
weight, the weight of the other components will be reduced on a pro rata basis
to contribute the weight needed for such increase. The weight of a sector,
country, or individual component in the Index may fluctuate above or below
specified caps and thresholds, respectively, between screening dates in response
to market conditions.
WisdomTree, Inc. (“WisdomTree”), as Index provider,
currently uses the Global Industry Classification Standard (GICS®), a
widely recognized industry classification methodology developed by MSCI, Inc.
and Standard & Poor’s Financial Services LLC, to define companies within a
sector. The following sectors are included in the Index: communication services,
consumer discretionary, consumer staples, energy, financials, health care,
industrials, information technology, materials, real estate, and utilities. A
sector is comprised of multiple industries. For example, the energy sector is
comprised of companies in the energy equipment and services industry as well as
the oil, gas and consumable fuels industry. As of June 30, 2023, companies in
the health care, consumer staples, industrials and consumer discretionary
sectors comprised a significant portion (i.e., in excess of 15% of the
Index’s total weighting) of the Index; however, the Index's sector exposure may
change from time to time.
To the extent the Index concentrates
(i.e., holds 25% or more of its total assets) in the securities of a
particular industry or group of industries, the Fund will concentrate its
investments to approximately the same extent as the Index.
As of June 30, 2023, the
equity securities of companies domiciled in or otherwise tied to France,
Switzerland and the United Kingdom comprised a significant portion (i.e.,
in excess of 15% of the Index’s total weighting) of the Index, although the
Index’s geographic exposure may change from time to time.
Principal Risks of Investing in the
Fund
You can lose money on your investment in
the Fund. While certain of the risks are prioritized in
terms of their relevance to the Fund’s investment strategies, most risks are
presented in alphabetical order. This ordering approach is designed to both
facilitate an investor’s understanding of the Fund’s risks and enable an
investor to easily locate and compare risks among funds. Each risk summarized
below is considered a “principal risk” of investing in the Fund, regardless of
the order in which it appears. Some or all of these risks may adversely affect
the Fund’s net asset value per share (“NAV”), trading price, yield, total return
and/or ability to meet its objective. For more information about the risks of
investing in the Fund, see the sections in the Fund’s Prospectus titled
“Additional Principal Risk Information About the Funds” and “Additional
Non-Principal Risk Information.”
■ |
Geographic Concentration in
Europe. Because the Fund invests primarily in the securities of
companies in Europe, the Fund’s performance is expected to be closely tied
to social, political, and economic conditions within Europe and to be more
volatile than the performance of more geographically diversified funds.
Most developed countries in Western Europe are members of the European
Union (“EU”), many are also members of the European Economic and Monetary
Union (“EMU”), and most EMU members are part of the euro zone, a group of
EMU countries that share the euro as their common currency. Members of the
EMU must comply with restrictions on inflation rates, deficits, debt
levels, and fiscal and monetary controls. The implementation of any such
restrictions or controls, the default of an EU member country on its
sovereign debt, significant fluctuations in the euro’s exchange rate, or a
change in governmental or EU trade regulations could each have a
significant impact on the economies of some or all European countries. The
United Kingdom formally exited the EU on January 31, 2020 (known as
“Brexit”), and entered into an 11-month transition period which ended on
December 31, 2020 at which time the United Kingdom left the EU single
market and customs union under the terms of a new trade agreement. The
trade agreement governs the relationship between the United Kingdom and EU
with respect to trading goods and services but critical aspects of the
relationship remain unresolved and subject to further negotiation and
agreement. As a result of the uncertain consequences of Brexit, the
economies of the United Kingdom and Europe, as well as the broader global
economy, could be significantly impacted, which may result in increased
volatility and illiquidity, and potentially lower economic growth on
markets in the United Kingdom, Europe and globally. In addition, the
extent and duration of Russia’s military invasion of Ukraine, initiated in
February 2022, and the broad-ranging economic sanctions levied against
Russia by the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom, and
other countries, are impossible to predict, but these events could have a
significant adverse impact on Europe’s overall economy and may adversely
affect the Fund’s performance even in the absence of direct exposure to
Russian securities. Any or all of these consequences could potentially
have an adverse effect on the value of the Fund’s investments. The Fund
currently invests a significant portion of its assets in companies
organized in the United Kingdom, Switzerland and France, although this may
change from time to
time. |
52 WisdomTree
Trust Prospectus |
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Investments in the
United Kingdom
Investments in the United Kingdom (“U.K.”) are subject to
risks associated with uncertainties surrounding Brexit and changes in the
economic health of its primary trade partners across Europe and the United
States. The U.K.’s economy is also heavily dependent on the export of financial
services and may be impacted by a slowdown in the financial services
sector.
Investments in
Switzerland
The Swiss economy is heavily dependent on the economies of
the United States and other European nations as key trading partners. In
particular, Switzerland depends on international trade and exports to generate
economic growth. As a result, future changes in the price or the demand for
Swiss products or services by these trading partners, or changes in these
countries’ economies, trade regulations or currency exchange rates could
adversely impact the Swiss economy.
Investments in
France
France’s economy is dependent on its agricultural exports and
fluctuations in the demand for agricultural products may have negative impacts
on France’s economy. The United Kingdom’s (“U.K.”) exit from the European Union
may adversely impact France’s economy due to decreased demand for French exports
in the U.K. France has experienced several terrorist attacks over the past
several years, creating a climate of insecurity that has been detrimental to
tourism.
■ |
Growth Investing Risk.
Growth stocks, as a group, may be out of favor with the market and
underperform value stocks or the overall equity market. Growth stocks are
generally more sensitive to market movements than other types of stocks
primarily because their prices are based heavily on the future
expectations of the economy and the stock’s issuing
company. |
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Dividend Paying Securities
Risk. Securities that pay dividends, as a group, may be out of favor
with the market and underperform the overall equity market or stocks of
companies that do not pay dividends. In addition, changes in the dividend
policies of the companies held by the Fund or the capital resources
available for such company’s dividend payments may adversely affect the
Fund. |
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Investment Risk. As
with all investments, an investment in the Fund is subject to loss,
including the possible loss of the entire principal amount of an
investment, over short or long periods of
time. |
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Market Risk. The
trading prices of equity securities and other instruments fluctuate in
response to a variety of factors, such as economic, financial or political
events that impact the entire market, market segments, or specific
issuers. The Fund’s NAV and market price may fluctuate significantly in
response to these and other factors. As a result, an investor could lose
money over short or long periods of time. |
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Shares of the Fund May
Trade at Prices Other Than NAV. As with all exchange-traded funds
(“ETFs”), Fund shares may be bought and sold in the secondary market at
market prices. The market prices of the Fund’s shares in the secondary
market generally differ from the Fund’s daily NAV, and there may be times
when the market price of the shares is more than the NAV (premium) or less
than the NAV (discount). This risk is heightened in times of market
volatility or periods of steep market declines. Because securities held by
the Fund trade on, or have exposure to, foreign exchanges that are closed
when the Fund’s primary listing exchange is open, the Fund is likely to
experience premiums and discounts greater than those of domestic ETFs.
Additionally, in stressed market conditions, the market for the Fund’s
shares may become less liquid in response to deteriorating liquidity in
the markets for the Fund’s underlying portfolio
holdings. |
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WisdomTree Trust Prospectus 53 |
■ |
Consumer Discretionary
Sector Risk. The Fund currently invests a significant portion of its
assets in the consumer discretionary sector, and therefore, the Fund’s
performance could be negatively impacted by events affecting this sector.
The consumer discretionary sector includes, for example, automobile,
textile and retail companies, as well as hotels, restaurants and other
leisure facilities. This sector can be significantly affected by, among
other things, changes in domestic and international economies, exchange
and interest rates, economic growth, worldwide demand, supply chain
constraints, social trends, consumers’ disposable income levels, and
propensity to spend. |
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Consumer Staples Sector
Risk. The Fund currently invests a significant portion of its assets
in the consumer staples sector, and therefore, the Fund’s performance
could be negatively impacted by events affecting this sector. The consumer
staples sector includes, for example, food and drug retail and companies
whose primary lines of business are food, beverage and other household
items, including agricultural products. This sector can be significantly
affected by, among other things, changes in price and availability of
underlying commodities, rising energy prices and global and economic
conditions. |
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Currency Exchange Rate
Risk. Changes in currency exchange rates and the relative value of
non-U.S. currencies will affect the value of the Fund’s investment and the
value of your Fund shares. Currency exchange rates can be very volatile
and can change quickly and unpredictably. As a result, the value of an
investment in the Fund may also change quickly, unpredictably, and without
warning, and you may lose money. |
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Cybersecurity Risk. The
Fund and its service providers may be susceptible to operational and
information security risks resulting from a breach in cybersecurity,
including cyber-attacks. A breach in cybersecurity, intentional or
unintentional, may adversely impact the Fund in many ways, including, but
not limited to, disruption of the Fund’s operational capacity, loss of
proprietary information, theft or corruption of data, denial-of-service
attacks on websites or network resources, and the unauthorized release of
confidential information. Cyber-attacks affecting the Fund’s third-party
service providers, market makers, institutional investors authorized to
purchase and redeem shares directly from the Fund (i.e., Authorized
Participants), or the issuers of securities in which the Fund invests may
subject the Fund to many of the same risks associated with direct
cybersecurity breaches. |
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Foreign Securities
Risk. Investments in non-U.S. securities involve political,
regulatory, and economic risks that may not be present in U.S. securities.
For example, investments in non-U.S. securities may be subject to risk of
loss due to foreign currency fluctuations, political or economic
instability, or geographic events that adversely impact issuers of foreign
securities. Investments in non-U.S. securities also may be subject to
withholding or other taxes and may be subject to additional trading,
settlement, custodial, and operational risks. These and other factors can
make investments in the Fund more volatile and potentially less liquid
than other types of investments and may be heightened in connection with
investments in developing or emerging markets
countries. |
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Geopolitical Risk. Some
countries and regions in which the Fund invests have experienced security
concerns, war, threats of war, aggression and/or conflict, terrorism,
economic uncertainty, sanctions or the threat of sanctions, natural and
environmental disasters, the spread of infectious illness, widespread
disease or other public health issues and/or systemic market dislocations
(including due to events outside of such countries or regions) that have
led, and in the future may lead, to increased short-term market volatility
and may have adverse long-term effects on the U.S. and world economies and
markets generally, each of which may negatively impact the Fund’s
investments. |
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Health Care Sector
Risk. The Fund currently invests a significant portion of its assets
in the health care sector, and therefore, the Fund’s performance could be
negatively impacted by events affecting this sector. The health care
sector includes, for example, biotechnology, pharmaceutical, health care
facilities, and health care equipment and supply companies. This sector
can be significantly affected by, among other things, lapsing patent
protection, technological developments that make drugs obsolete,
government regulation, price controls, and approvals for
drugs. |
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Index and Data Risk.
The Fund is not “actively” managed and seeks to track the price and yield
performance, before fees and expenses, of the Index. The Index may not
perform as intended. The Index provider has the right to make adjustments
to the Index or to cease making the Index available without regard to the
particular interests of the Fund or its shareholders. If the computers or
other facilities of the Index provider, Index calculation agent, data
providers and/or relevant stock exchange malfunction for any reason,
calculation and dissemination of Index values may be delayed and trading
in Fund shares may be suspended for a period of time. Errors in Index
data, Index calculations and/or the construction of the Index may occur
from time to time and may not be identified and/or corrected by the Index
provider, Index calculation agent or other applicable party for a period
of time or at all, which may have an adverse impact on the Fund and its
shareholders. The potential risk of continuing error may be particularly
heightened in the case of the Index, which is generally not used as a
benchmark by other funds or
managers. |
54 WisdomTree
Trust Prospectus |
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Industrials Sector
Risk. The Fund currently invests a significant portion of its assets
in the industrials sector, and therefore the Fund’s performance could be
negatively impacted by events affecting this sector. The industrials
sector includes, for example, aerospace and defense, non-residential
construction, engineering, machinery, transportation, and commercial and
professional services companies. The industrials sector can be
significantly affected by, among other things, business cycle
fluctuations, worldwide economy growth, international political and
economic developments, exchange rates, commodity prices, environmental
issues, government and corporate spending, supply and demand for specific
products and services, rapid technological developments, and government
regulation. |
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Investment Style Risk.
The Fund invests in the securities included in, or representative of, the
Index regardless of their investment merit. The Fund does not attempt to
outperform the Index or take defensive positions in declining markets. As
a result, the Fund’s performance may be adversely affected by a general
decline in the market segments relating to the
Index. |
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Issuer-Specific Risk.
Issuer-specific events, including changes in the actual or perceived
financial condition of an issuer, can have a negative impact on the value
of the Fund. |
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Large-Capitalization
Investing Risk. The Fund may invest in the securities of
large-capitalization companies. As a result, the Fund’s performance may be
adversely affected if securities of these companies underperform
securities of smaller capitalization companies or the market as a whole.
Large-capitalization companies may adapt more slowly to new competitive
challenges and be subject to slower growth during times of economic
expansion. |
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Mid-Capitalization
Investing Risk. The Fund may invest in the securities of
mid-capitalization companies. As a result, the Fund’s performance may be
adversely affected if securities of these companies underperform
securities of other capitalization ranges or the market as a whole.
Securities of mid-capitalization companies are often less stable and more
vulnerable to market volatility and adverse economic developments than
securities of larger companies, but mid-capitalization companies may also
underperform the securities of small-capitalization companies because
medium capitalization companies are more mature and are subject to slower
growth during economic expansion. |
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Non-Correlation Risk.
As with all index funds, the performance of the Fund and that of its Index
may differ from each other for a variety of reasons. For example, the Fund
incurs operating expenses and portfolio transaction costs, while also
managing cash flows and potential operational inefficiencies, not incurred
by its Index. In addition, when markets are volatile, the ability to sell
securities at fair market prices may be adversely affected and may result
in additional trading costs and/or increase the non-correlation risk. The
Fund's use of sampling techniques also may affect its ability to achieve
close correlation with its Index. |
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Non-Diversification
Risk. The Fund is considered to be non-diversified, which means that
it may invest more of its assets in the securities of a single issuer or a
smaller number of issuers than if it were a diversified fund. To the
extent the Fund invests a significant percentage of its assets in a
limited number of issuers, the Fund is subject to the risks of investing
in those few issuers, and may be more susceptible to a single adverse
economic or regulatory occurrence. As a result, changes in the market
value of a single security could cause greater fluctuations in the value
of Fund shares than would occur in a diversified
fund. |
Fund
Performance
Historical Fund
performance, which varies over time, can provide an indication of the risks of
investing in the Fund. The bar chart that follows shows the annual total returns
of the Fund for each full calendar year since the Fund commenced operations, or
the past 10 calendar years, as applicable. The table that
follows the bar chart shows the Fund’s average annual total returns, both before
and after taxes. This table also shows how the Fund’s performance compares to
the Index and the MSCI Europe Index, a relevant broad-based securities index.
Index returns do not reflect deductions for fees, expenses or taxes. All returns
assume reinvestment of dividends and distributions. The Fund’s past performance
(before and after taxes) is not necessarily an indication of how the Fund will
perform in the future. Updated performance information
for the Fund is available online on the Fund’s website at www.wisdomtree.com/investments.
|
|
WisdomTree Trust Prospectus 55 |
Year |
Return |
2015 |
3.43% |
2016 |
-3.94% |
2017 |
29.63% |
2018 |
-15.05% |
2019 |
28.00% |
2020 |
12.04% |
2021 |
16.10% |
2022 |
-18.23% |
The Fund’s
year-to-date total return
as of June 30,
2023 was 13.91%.
Best and Worst Quarter
Returns (for the periods reflected in the bar chart above)
|
Return |
Quarter/Year |
Highest
Return |
16.46% |
4Q/2022 December 31,
2022 |
Lowest
Return |
(20.01)% |
1Q/2020 March 31,
2020 |
After-tax returns are
calculated using the highest historical individual federal marginal income tax
rates and do not reflect the impact of state and local
taxes. Actual after-tax returns
depend on your tax situation and may differ from those shown and are not
relevant if you hold your shares through tax-deferred arrangements, such as
401(k) plans or individual retirement accounts. In some cases, the return
after taxes may exceed the return before taxes due to an assumed tax benefit
from any losses on a sale of Fund shares at the end of the measurement
period.
Average Annual Total Returns for the periods
ending December 31, 2022
WisdomTree Europe Quality
Dividend Growth Fund |
1 Year |
5 Years |
Since Inception May 7,
2014 |
Return Before Taxes Based on
NAV |
(18.23)% |
2.95% |
3.36% |
Return After Taxes on
Distributions |
(18.68)% |
2.48% |
2.94% |
Return After Taxes on
Distributions and Sale of Fund Shares |
(10.23)% |
2.44% |
2.74% |
WisdomTree Europe Quality
Dividend Growth Index (Reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or
taxes) |
(18.04)% |
3.47% |
3.86% |
MSCI Europe Index (Reflects no
deduction for fees, expenses or taxes) |
(15.06)% |
1.87% |
2.07% |
Management
Investment Adviser and
Sub-Adviser
WisdomTree Asset
Management, Inc. (“WisdomTree Asset Management” or the “Adviser”) serves as
investment adviser to the Fund. Mellon Investments Corporation (the
“Sub-Adviser”) serves as sub-adviser to the Fund.
Portfolio
Managers
The Fund is managed by the
Sub-Adviser’s Equity Index Strategies Portfolio Management team. The individual
members of the team jointly and primarily responsible for the day-to-day
management of the Fund’s portfolio are identified below.
Marlene Walker-Smith, a
Director, Head of Equity Index Portfolio Management, has been a portfolio
manager of the Fund since October 2020.
David France, CFA, a Vice
President, Senior Portfolio Manager and Team Manager, has been a portfolio
manager of the Fund since June 2021.
Todd Frysinger, CFA, a Vice
President, Senior Portfolio Manager and Team Manager, has been a portfolio
manager of the Fund since June 2021.
Vlasta Sheremeta, CFA, a
Vice President, Senior Portfolio Manager and Team Manager, has been a portfolio
manager of the Fund since June 2021.
56 WisdomTree
Trust Prospectus |
|
|
Michael Stoll, a Vice
President, Senior Portfolio Manager and Team Manager, has been a portfolio
manager of the Fund since June 2021.
Buying and Selling Fund
Shares
The Fund is an ETF. This
means that individual shares of the Fund are listed on a national securities
exchange, such as NYSE Arca, and may only be purchased and sold in the secondary
market through a broker-dealer at market prices. Because Fund shares trade at
market prices rather than NAV, shares may trade at a price greater than NAV
(premium) or less than NAV (discount). In addition, an investor may incur costs
attributable to the difference between the highest price a buyer is willing to
pay to purchase shares (bid) and the lowest price a seller is willing to accept
for shares (ask) when buying and selling shares in the secondary market (the
“bid/ask spread”). Recent information regarding the Fund, including its NAV,
market price, premiums and discounts, and bid/ask spreads, is available on the
Fund’s website at www.wisdomtree.com/investments.
The Fund issues and redeems
shares at NAV only in large blocks of shares (“Creation Units”), which only
certain institutions or large investors (typically market makers or other
broker-dealers) may purchase or redeem. The Fund issues and redeems Creation
Units in exchange for a portfolio of securities and/or U.S. cash.
Tax Information
The Fund intends to make
distributions that may be taxed as ordinary income, qualified dividend income,
or capital gains.
Payments to
Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries
If you purchase shares of
the Fund through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a
bank) (an “Intermediary”), WisdomTree Asset Management or its affiliates may pay
Intermediaries for certain activities related to the Fund, including
participation in activities that are designed to make Intermediaries more
knowledgeable about exchange-traded products, including the Fund, or for other
activities, such as marketing, educational training or other initiatives related
to the sale or promotion of Fund shares. These payments may create a conflict of
interest by influencing the Intermediary and your salesperson to recommend the
Fund over another investment. Any such arrangements do not result in increased
Fund expenses. Ask your salesperson or visit the Intermediary’s website for more
information.
|
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WisdomTree Trust Prospectus 57 |
WisdomTree Europe SmallCap Dividend
Fund
Investment
Objective
The WisdomTree Europe SmallCap
Dividend Fund (the “Fund”) seeks to track the price and yield performance,
before fees and expenses, of the WisdomTree Europe SmallCap Dividend Index (the
“Index”).
Fees and Expenses of the
Fund
The following table describes
the fees and expenses you may pay if you buy, hold and sell shares of the Fund.
You may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to
financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the table and example
below. The fees are expressed as a percentage of the Fund’s average net
assets.
Shareholder Fees (fees paid
directly from your investment) |
None |
Annual Fund Operating Expenses
(expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your
investment) |
|
Management Fees |
0.58% |
Distribution and/or Service
(12b-1) Fees |
None |
Other Expenses |
0.00%1 |
Total Annual Fund Operating
Expenses |
0.58%1 |
Example
The following example is
intended to help retail investors compare the cost of investing in the Fund with
the cost of investing in other funds. It illustrates the hypothetical expenses
that such investors would incur over various periods if they were to invest
$10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated and then redeem all of their
shares at the end of those periods. This example assumes that the Fund provides
a return of 5% a year and that operating expenses remain the same. This example
does not include the brokerage commissions that retail investors may pay to buy
and sell shares of the Fund. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower,
based on these assumptions, your costs would be:
|
1 Year |
3 Years |
5 Years |
10 Years |
|
$ 59 |
$ 186 |
$ 324 |
$ 726 |
Portfolio
Turnover
The Fund pays transaction
costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over”
its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction
costs and may result in higher taxes when Fund shares are held in a taxable
account. These costs, which are not reflected in annual fund operating expenses
or in the example, affect the Fund’s performance. During the most recent fiscal
year, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 46% of the average
value of its portfolio, excluding the value of portfolio securities received or
delivered as a result of in-kind creations or redemptions of the Fund’s capital
shares.
Principal Investment Strategies of the
Fund
The Fund employs a “passive
management” – or indexing – investment approach designed to track the
performance of the Index. The Fund generally uses a representative sampling
strategy to achieve its investment objective, meaning it generally will invest
in a sample of the securities in the Index whose risk, return and other
characteristics resemble the risk, return and other characteristics of the Index
as a whole. Under normal circumstances, at least 95% of the Fund’s total assets
(exclusive of collateral held from securities lending) will be invested in
component securities of the Index and investments that have economic
characteristics that are substantially identical to the economic characteristics
of such component securities.
The Index is a
fundamentally weighted index that is comprised of the small-capitalization
segment of the European dividend-paying market. Constituent companies are
selected from the WisdomTree Europe Dividend Index, which defines the
dividend-paying universe of companies in Europe. The Index is comprised of the
companies that compose the bottom 25% (bottom 30% with respect to a company to
be deleted) of the market capitalization of the WisdomTree Europe Dividend Index
after the 300 largest companies have been removed. As of June 30, 2023, the
Index had a market capitalization range from $98.7 million to $23.8 billion,
with an average market capitalization of $1.1 billion. To be eligible for
inclusion in the WisdomTree Europe Dividend Index, a company must meet the
following criteria as of the annual Index screening date: (i) incorporation and
exchange listing in one of the following countries: Austria, Belgium, Denmark,
Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain,
Sweden, Switzerland, or the United Kingdom (“Europe”); (ii) payment of at least
$5 million in cash dividends on common shares during the preceding annual cycle;
(iii) market capitalization of at least $100 million; (iv) median daily dollar
trading volume of at least $100,000 for the preceding three months; and (v)
trading of at least 250,000 shares per month for each of the preceding six
months.
58 WisdomTree
Trust Prospectus |
|
|
Securities are weighted in
the Index based on dividends paid over the prior annual cycle. Companies that
pay a greater total dollar amount of dividends are more heavily weighted. To
derive a company’s initial Index weight, (i) multiply the U.S. dollar
value of the company’s annual gross dividend per share by the number of common
shares outstanding for that company (the “Cash Dividend Factor”); (ii) calculate
the Cash Dividend Factor for each company; (iii) add together all of the
companies’ Cash Dividend Factors; and (iv) divide the company’s Cash
Dividend Factor by the sum of all Cash Dividend Factors. On the Index’s annual
screening date, the Index caps the weight of components exposed to any one
country and any one sector (except for the real estate sector) at 25%. The
weight of components exposed to the real estate sector is capped at 15%. The
Index also may adjust the weight of individual components on the annual
screening date based on certain quantitative thresholds or limits tied to key
metrics of a component security, such as its trading volume. To the extent the
Index reduces an individual component’s weight, the excess weight will be
reallocated pro rata among the other components. Similarly, if the Index
increases a component’s weight, the weight of the other components will be
reduced on a pro rata basis to contribute the weight needed for such increase.
The weight of a sector, country, or individual component in the Index may
fluctuate above or below specified caps and thresholds, respectively, between
screening dates in response to market conditions.
WisdomTree, Inc. (“WisdomTree”), as Index provider,
currently uses the Global Industry Classification Standard (GICS®), a
widely recognized industry classification methodology developed by MSCI, Inc.
and Standard & Poor’s Financial Services LLC, to define companies within a
sector. The following sectors are included in the Index: communication services,
consumer discretionary, consumer staples, energy, financials, health care,
industrials, information technology, materials, real estate, and utilities. A
sector is comprised of multiple industries. For example, the energy sector is
comprised of companies in the energy equipment and services industry as well as
the oil, gas and consumable fuels industry. As of June 30, 2023, companies in
the industrials and consumer discretionary sectors comprised a significant
portion (i.e., in excess of 15% of the Index’s total weighting) of the
Index; however, the Index's sector exposure may change from time to
time.
To the extent the Index concentrates
(i.e., holds 25% or more of its total assets) in the securities of a
particular industry or group of industries, the Fund will concentrate its
investments to approximately the same extent as the Index.
As of June 30, 2023, the
equity securities of companies domiciled in or otherwise tied to the United
Kingdom and Sweden comprised a significant portion (i.e., in excess of
15% of the Index’s total weighting) of the Index, although the Index’s
geographic exposure may change from time to time.
Principal Risks of Investing in the
Fund
You can lose money on your investment in
the Fund. While certain of the risks are prioritized in
terms of their relevance to the Fund’s investment strategies, most risks are
presented in alphabetical order. This ordering approach is designed to both
facilitate an investor’s understanding of the Fund’s risks and enable an
investor to easily locate and compare risks among funds. Each risk summarized
below is considered a “principal risk” of investing in the Fund, regardless of
the order in which it appears. Some or all of these risks may adversely affect
the Fund’s net asset value per share (“NAV”), trading price, yield, total return
and/or ability to meet its objective. For more information about the risks of
investing in the Fund, see the sections in the Fund’s Prospectus titled
“Additional Principal Risk Information About the Funds” and “Additional
Non-Principal Risk Information.”
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WisdomTree Trust Prospectus 59 |
■ |
Geographic Concentration in
Europe. Because the Fund invests primarily in the securities of
companies in Europe, the Fund’s performance is expected to be closely tied
to social, political, and economic conditions within Europe and to be more
volatile than the performance of more geographically diversified funds.
Most developed countries in Western Europe are members of the European
Union (“EU”), many are also members of the European Economic and Monetary
Union (“EMU”), and most EMU members are part of the euro zone, a group of
EMU countries that share the euro as their common currency. Members of the
EMU must comply with restrictions on inflation rates, deficits, debt
levels, and fiscal and monetary controls. The implementation of any such
restrictions or controls, the default of an EU member country on its
sovereign debt, significant fluctuations in the euro’s exchange rate, or a
change in governmental or EU trade regulations could each have a
significant impact on the economies of some or all European countries. The
United Kingdom formally exited the EU on January 31, 2020 (known as
“Brexit”), and entered into an 11-month transition period which ended on
December 31, 2020 at which time the United Kingdom left the EU single
market and customs union under the terms of a new trade agreement. The
trade agreement governs the relationship between the United Kingdom and EU
with respect to trading goods and services but critical aspects of the
relationship remain unresolved and subject to further negotiation and
agreement. As a result of the uncertain consequences of Brexit, the
economies of the United Kingdom and Europe, as well as the broader global
economy, could be significantly impacted, which may result in increased
volatility and illiquidity, and potentially lower economic growth on
markets in the United Kingdom, Europe and globally. In addition, the
extent and duration of Russia's military invasion of Ukraine, initiated in
February 2022, and the broad-ranging economic sanctions levied against
Russia by the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom, and
other countries, are impossible to predict, but these events could have a
significant adverse impact on Europe's overall economy and may adversely
affect the Fund's performance even in the absence of direct exposure to
Russian securities. Any or all of these consequences could potentially
have an adverse effect on the value of the Fund’s investments. The Fund
currently invests a significant portion of its assets in companies
organized in the United Kingdom and Sweden, although this may change from
time to time. |
Investments in the
United Kingdom
Investments in the United Kingdom (“U.K.”) are subject to
risks associated with uncertainties surrounding Brexit and changes in the
economic health of its primary trade partners across Europe and the United
States. The U.K.’s economy is also heavily dependent on the export of financial
services and may be impacted by a slowdown in the financial services
sector.
Investments in
Sweden
Sweden’s largest trading partners include the United States,
Germany and certain other Western European nations. As a result, the economy of
Sweden may be significantly affected by changes in the economies, trade
regulations, currency exchange rates, and monetary policies of these trading
partners. In addition, Sweden maintains a robust social welfare system, and
Sweden’s workforce is highly unionized. These factors can negatively impact the
Swedish economy by causing increased government spending, higher production
costs and lower productivity, among other things.
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Small-Capitalization
Investing Risk. The Fund invests primarily in the securities of
small-capitalization companies. As a result, the Fund may be more volatile
than funds that invest in larger, more established companies. The
securities of small-capitalization companies generally trade in lower
volumes and are subject to greater and more unpredictable price changes
than larger capitalization stocks or the stock market as a whole.
Small-capitalization companies may be particularly sensitive to adverse
economic developments as well as changes in interest rates, government
regulation, borrowing costs and earnings. |
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Dividend Paying Securities
Risk. Securities that pay dividends, as a group, may be out of favor
with the market and underperform the overall equity market or stocks of
companies that do not pay dividends. In addition, changes in the dividend
policies of the companies held by the Fund or the capital resources
available for such company’s dividend payments may adversely affect the
Fund. |
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Investment Risk. As
with all investments, an investment in the Fund is subject to loss,
including the possible loss of the entire principal amount of an
investment, over short or long periods of
time. |
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Market Risk. The
trading prices of equity securities and other instruments fluctuate in
response to a variety of factors, such as economic, financial or political
events that impact the entire market, market segments, or specific
issuers. The Fund’s NAV and market price may fluctuate significantly in
response to these and other factors. As a result, an investor could lose
money over short or long periods of time. |
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Shares of the Fund May
Trade at Prices Other Than NAV. As with all exchange-traded funds
(“ETFs”), Fund shares may be bought and sold in the secondary market at
market prices. The market prices of the Fund’s shares in the secondary
market generally differ from the Fund’s daily NAV, and there may be times
when the market price of the shares is more than the NAV (premium) or less
than the NAV (discount). This risk is heightened in times of market
volatility or periods of steep market declines. Because securities held by
the Fund trade on, or have exposure to, foreign exchanges that are closed
when the Fund’s primary listing exchange is open, the Fund is likely to
experience premiums and discounts greater than those of domestic ETFs.
Additionally, in stressed market conditions, the market for the Fund’s
shares may become less liquid in response to deteriorating liquidity in
the markets for the Fund’s underlying portfolio
holdings. |
60 WisdomTree
Trust Prospectus |
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Consumer Discretionary
Sector Risk. The Fund currently invests a significant portion of its
assets in the consumer discretionary sector, and therefore, the Fund’s
performance could be negatively impacted by events affecting this sector.
The consumer discretionary sector includes, for example, automobile,
textile and retail companies, as well as hotels, restaurants and other
leisure facilities. This sector can be significantly affected by, among
other things, changes in domestic and international economies, exchange
and interest rates, economic growth, worldwide demand, supply chain
constraints, social trends, consumers’ disposable income levels, and
propensity to spend. |
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Currency Exchange Rate
Risk. Changes in currency exchange rates and the relative value of
non-U.S. currencies will affect the value of the Fund’s investment and the
value of your Fund shares. Currency exchange rates can be very volatile
and can change quickly and unpredictably. As a result, the value of an
investment in the Fund may also change quickly, unpredictably, and without
warning, and you may lose money. |
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Cybersecurity Risk. The
Fund and its service providers may be susceptible to operational and
information security risks resulting from a breach in cybersecurity,
including cyber-attacks. A breach in cybersecurity, intentional or
unintentional, may adversely impact the Fund in many ways, including, but
not limited to, disruption of the Fund’s operational capacity, loss of
proprietary information, theft or corruption of data, denial-of-service
attacks on websites or network resources, and the unauthorized release of
confidential information. Cyber-attacks affecting the Fund’s third-party
service providers, market makers, institutional investors authorized to
purchase and redeem shares directly from the Fund (i.e., Authorized
Participants), or the issuers of securities in which the Fund invests may
subject the Fund to many of the same risks associated with direct
cybersecurity breaches. |
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Foreign Securities
Risk. Investments in non-U.S. securities involve political,
regulatory, and economic risks that may not be present in U.S. securities.
For example, investments in non-U.S. securities may be subject to risk of
loss due to foreign currency fluctuations, political or economic
instability, or geographic events that adversely impact issuers of foreign
securities. Investments in non-U.S. securities also may be subject to
withholding or other taxes and may be subject to additional trading,
settlement, custodial, and operational risks. These and other factors can
make investments in the Fund more volatile and potentially less liquid
than other types of investments and may be heightened in connection with
investments in developing or emerging markets
countries. |
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Geopolitical Risk. Some
countries and regions in which the Fund invests have experienced security
concerns, war, threats of war, aggression and/or conflict, terrorism,
economic uncertainty, sanctions or the threat of sanctions, natural and
environmental disasters, the spread of infectious illness, widespread
disease or other public health issues and/or systemic market dislocations
(including due to events outside of such countries or regions) that have
led, and in the future may lead, to increased short-term market volatility
and may have adverse long-term effects on the U.S. and world economies and
markets generally, each of which may negatively impact the Fund’s
investments. |
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Index and Data Risk.
The Fund is not “actively” managed and seeks to track the price and yield
performance, before fees and expenses, of the Index. The Index may not
perform as intended. The Index provider has the right to make adjustments
to the Index or to cease making the Index available without regard to the
particular interests of the Fund or its shareholders. If the computers or
other facilities of the Index provider, Index calculation agent, data
providers and/or relevant stock exchange malfunction for any reason,
calculation and dissemination of Index values may be delayed and trading
in Fund shares may be suspended for a period of time. Errors in Index
data, Index calculations and/or the construction of the Index may occur
from time to time and may not be identified and/or corrected by the Index
provider, Index calculation agent or other applicable party for a period
of time or at all, which may have an adverse impact on the Fund and its
shareholders. The potential risk of continuing error may be particularly
heightened in the case of the Index, which is generally not used as a
benchmark by other funds or managers. |
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Industrials Sector
Risk. The Fund currently invests a significant portion of its assets
in the industrials sector, and therefore the Fund’s performance could be
negatively impacted by events affecting this sector. The industrials
sector includes, for example, aerospace and defense, non-residential
construction, engineering, machinery, transportation, and commercial and
professional services companies. The industrials sector can be
significantly affected by, among other things, business cycle
fluctuations, worldwide economy growth, international political and
economic developments, exchange rates, commodity prices, environmental
issues, government and corporate spending, supply and demand for specific
products and services, rapid technological developments, and government
regulation. |
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WisdomTree Trust Prospectus 61 |
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Investment Style Risk.
The Fund invests in the securities included in, or representative of, the
Index regardless of their investment merit. The Fund does not attempt to
outperform the Index or take defensive positions in declining markets. As
a result, the Fund’s performance may be adversely affected by a general
decline in the market segments relating to the
Index. |
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Issuer-Specific Risk.
Issuer-specific events, including changes in the actual or perceived
financial condition of an issuer, can have a negative impact on the value
of the Fund. |
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Non-Correlation Risk.
As with all index funds, the performance of the Fund and that of its Index
may differ from each other for a variety of reasons. For example, the Fund
incurs operating expenses and portfolio transaction costs, while also
managing cash flows and potential operational inefficiencies, not incurred
by its Index. In addition, when markets are volatile, the ability to sell
securities at fair market prices may be adversely affected and may result
in additional trading costs and/or increase the non-correlation risk. The
Fund's use of sampling techniques also may affect its ability to achieve
close correlation with its Index. |
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Non-Diversification
Risk. The Fund is considered to be non-diversified, which means that
it may invest more of its assets in the securities of a single issuer or a
smaller number of issuers than if it were a diversified fund. To the
extent the Fund invests a significant percentage of its assets in a
limited number of issuers, the Fund is subject to the risks of investing
in those few issuers, and may be more susceptible to a single adverse
economic or regulatory occurrence. As a result, changes in the market
value of a single security could cause greater fluctuations in the value
of Fund shares than would occur in a diversified
fund. |
Fund
Performance
Historical Fund
performance, which varies over time, can provide an indication of the risks of
investing in the Fund. The bar chart that follows shows the annual total returns
of the Fund for each full calendar year since the Fund commenced operations, or
the past 10 calendar years, as applicable. The table that
follows the bar chart shows the Fund’s average annual total returns, both before
and after taxes. This table also shows how the Fund’s performance compares to
the Index and the MSCI Europe Small Cap Index, a relevant broad-based securities
index. Index returns do not reflect deductions for fees, expenses or taxes. All
returns assume reinvestment of dividends and distributions. The Fund’s past performance
(before and after taxes) is not necessarily an indication of how the Fund will
perform in the future. Updated performance information
for the Fund is available online on the Fund’s website at www.wisdomtree.com/investments.
Year |
Return |
2013 |
47.17% |
2014 |
-6.33% |
2015 |
10.96% |
2016 |
1.57% |
2017 |
32.45% |
2018 |
-21.43% |
2019 |
26.79% |
2020 |
2.81% |
2021 |
18.25% |
2022 |
-22.53% |
The Fund’s
year-to-date total return
as of June 30,
2023 was 6.00%.
Best and Worst Quarter
Returns (for the periods reflected in the bar chart above)
|
Return |
Quarter/Year |
Highest
Return |
22.22% |
4Q/2020 December 31,
2020 |
Lowest
Return |
(36.36)% |
1Q/2020 March 31,
2020 |
After-tax returns are
calculated using the highest historical individual federal marginal income tax
rates and do not reflect the impact of state and local
taxes. Actual after-tax returns
depend on your tax situation and may differ from those shown and are not
relevant if you hold your shares through tax-deferred arrangements, such as
401(k) plans or individual retirement accounts. In some cases, the return
after taxes may exceed the return before taxes due to an assumed tax benefit
from any losses on a sale of Fund shares at the end of the measurement
period.
62 WisdomTree
Trust Prospectus |
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Average Annual Total Returns for the periods
ending December 31, 2022
WisdomTree Europe SmallCap
Dividend Fund |
1 Year |
5 Years |
10 Years |
Return Before Taxes Based on
NAV |
(22.53)% |
(1.27)% |
6.80% |
Return After Taxes on
Distributions |
(23.66)% |
(2.08)% |
6.02% |
Return After Taxes on
Distributions and Sale of Fund Shares |
(12.70)% |
(0.88)% |
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