WisdomTree Middle East ETF Launches

GULF is designed to provide broad exposure and tradable access to securities listed and traded in the Middle East. According to a press release, it provides investors with exposure to approximately 70 dividend-paying companies listed in Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates.

The fund has an expense ratio of 0.88%.

“The growing economies of the Middle East region, while driven by increasing revenues from oil exports, are becoming more diversified,’ Bruce Lavine, president and COO at WisdomTree, said in the release. “We estimate that equities trading in the Middle East region now make up nearly 2% of the world’s total market capitalization. Further, the equity returns in the Middle East have historically demonstrated a low correlation to the U.S., developed, and even Emerging Markets, and may be a source of portfolio diversification.”