Products January 21, 2009

WisdomTree Renames High-Yielding Fund Series

Exchange-traded fund (ETF) sponsor and index developer WisdomTree has announced a name change to a number of its portfolios.
Reported by

Specifically, the firm says that the WisdomTree “High-Yielding Equity Fund” portfolios across the U.S., Europe, Japan, Pacific Rim ex-Japan, developed world (DEFA), and emerging markets have changed their name to the WisdomTree “Equity Income Fund” portfolios for these regions.

The equity income family is a sub set of WisdomTree’s family of 34 domestic and international dividend funds. The funds will continue to be offered on the NYSE Arca under their existing ticker symbols. The investment objectives and fee structure will remain unchanged.

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Funds Changing

TickerNew Fund NamePrevious Name
DHSWisdomTree Equity Income Fund WisdomTree High-Yielding Equity Fund
DTHWisdomTree DEFA Equity Income Fund WisdomTree DEFA High-Yielding Equity Fund
DEWWisdomTree Europe Equity Income FundWisdomTree Europe High-Yielding Equity Fund
DNLWisdomTree Japan Equity Income Fund WisdomTree Japan High-Yielding Equity Fund
DNHWisdomTree Pacific ex-Japan Equity Income Fund WisdomTree Pacific ex-Japan High-Yielding Equity Fund
DEMWisdomTree Emerging Markets Equity Income Fund WisdomTree Emerging Markets High-Yielding Equity Fund

WisdomTree President & COO Bruce Lavine commented in the company’s announcement, “The equity income name better articulates the investment strategy of these six funds which focus on the highest dividend-yielding stocks in their respective indexes. Equity income continues to be an important category for investors and WisdomTree has one of the most extensive global offerings.”

Products January 21, 2009

Indonesian-focused ETF Launches

Van Eck Global has launched what it calls the first exchange-traded fund (ETF) focused on Indonesia.
Reported by

The Market Vectors Indonesia Index ETF (ticker: IDX), launched on NYSE Arca, seeks to replicate as closely as possible, before fees and expenses, the price and yield performance of the Market Vectors Indonesia Index (ticker: MVINDO), according to the firm. The fund’s total net expenses are 0.71%.

Underlying Index

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According to the announcement, the Market Vectors Indonesia Index underlying the new fund is “…pure-play in focus, including many of the largest and most liquid companies that are domiciled and primarily listed in Indonesia, or that derive at least 50% of their revenues in the country.” The firm notes that, as of December 31, 2008, the index contained 25 names, all onshore, and covered an array of industries, including:

  • banks (with an index weighting of 30.1%),
  • energy (15.7%),
  • telecommunications (12.7%), and
  • materials (11.4%).

The top three holdings as of December 31, 2008 were Bank Central Asia (8.8%), Telekomunikasi Indonesia (7.5%) and Bank Rakyat Indonesia (7.0%).

“Market Vectors is pleased to offer the first ETF focused on this key emerging market nation, which has made great political and economic strides in recent years,” said Jan van Eck, Principal at Van Eck Global. “Like all emerging markets, Indonesia is challenged by the current global economic climate, but its ongoing reforms should help sustain its longer-term growth potential.”

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