NEW YORK, Dec. 13, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- WisdomTree (NASDAQ:WETF), an exchange-traded product (“ETP”) sponsor and asset manager, today announced the WisdomTree U.S. Quality Dividend Growth Fund (DGRW) recently surpassed $1 billion in assets. DGRW is designed to provide exposure to U.S. large cap dividend-paying stocks with growth and quality characteristics and has an expense ratio of 0.28%.
Dividend Growth Stocks Ripe for Opportunity, Post-Trump Election
Post-election, investors saw the quick upward move in the yield of U.S. 10-Year Treasury Note. Moreover, the interest rate on this U.S. Treasury has increased approximately 100 basis points1 from its July 8, 2016 low of 1.36%, and over this period, high-yielding dividend payers – like those in the Utilities, Telecommunications Services and Real Estate sectors – have faced competition as sources of income.
Jeremy Schwartz, WisdomTree Director of Research, said, “Currently, DGRW has approximately 0% exposure to these higher leveraged sectors – Utilities, Telecoms and Real Estate – something that we think would surprise a lot of people about any dividend-focused index centered on U.S. equities. Instead, DGRW is positioned in companies WisdomTree believes have the best potential to raise their dividends.”
Schwartz added, “DGRW allows a continued focus on dividend-payers without the exposures to sectors most vulnerable to a rising rate environment, some of which currently have higher valuations relative to broad U.S. equity markets.”
Dividend Growth Strategies: The Difference is Quality
WisdomTree’s approach to U.S. quality dividend growth uses a forward-looking process designed to capitalize on dividend growth trends as they occur, in an attempt to raise the probability of generating exposure to future dividend growers. To identify these stocks, strict growth and quality selection factors are used: earnings growth expectations, high return on equity (ROE) and high return on assets (ROA) – the last two being measures associated with “quality.”
Schwartz added, “While value strategies focus on how price relates to fundamentals such as dividends, earnings or book value, quality factors focus on the inherent stability of the fundamentals themselves—making them interesting complements.”
To learn more about our Quality Dividend Growth strategies, please visit our website: here.
1 Basis point: 1/100th of 1 percent.
Investors should carefully consider the investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses of the Fund before investing. To obtain a prospectus containing this and other important information, please call 866.909.WISE (9473), or visit wisdomtree.com to view or download a prospectus. Read the prospectus carefully before you invest.
There are risks associated with investing, including possible loss of principal. Funds focusing their investments on certain sectors increase their vulnerability to any single economic or regulatory development. This may result in greater share price volatility. Please read the Fund’s prospectus for specific details regarding the Fund’s risk profile.
Jeremy Schwartz is a registered representative of Foreside Fund Services, LLC.
WisdomTree Funds are distributed by Foreside Fund Services, LLC in the U.S. only.
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About WisdomTree
WisdomTree Investments, Inc., through its subsidiaries in the U.S., Europe, Japan and Canada (collectively, “WisdomTree”), is an exchange-traded fund (“ETF”) and exchange-traded product (“ETP”) sponsor and asset manager headquartered in New York. WisdomTree offers products covering equities, fixed income, currencies, commodities and alternative strategies. WisdomTree currently has approximately $40.6 billion in assets under management globally.
WisdomTree® is the marketing name for WisdomTree Investments, Inc. and its subsidiaries worldwide.