The combination of an Average People Pillar rating and a Below Average Process Pillar rating limit  WisdomTree Global High Dividend ETF to a Morningstar Medalist Rating of Neutral.  The portfolio maintains a sizable cost advantage over competitors, priced within the lowest fee quintile among peers.  

 The strategy gets a Below Average Process Pillar rating. Independent of the rating, analysis of the strategy's portfolio shows it has maintained an underweight position in liquidity exposure and quality exposure compared with category peers. Low liquidity risk exposure is attributed to stocks with a low trading volume, limiting managers' flexibility. And a low quality exposure is rooted in stocks with higher financial leverage and lower profitability. The strategy’s management team earns an Average People Pillar rating. The strategy's parent organization earns the firm a Below Average Parent Pillar rating. People Pillar and Parent Pillar ratings for this strategy are indirectly assigned by a Morningstar analyst rather than algorithmically derived. Please see the notes following each pillar section for more details. The details of assigning methods can be found in each pillar section.

Analyst Rating

AbbVie

Coca-Cola

Chevron

Altria

Bank of America

Philip Morris

Pfizer

Bristol-Myers

ConocoPhillips

Morningstar's evaluation of this security's process aims to determine the likelihood that it will outperform its Morningstar Category index on a risk-adjusted basis over the long term. WisdomTree Global High Dividend Fund earns a Below Average Process Pillar rating. 

The process is bolstered by its parent firm's excellent long-term risk-adjusted performance, as shown by the firm's average 10-year Morningstar Rating of 3.4 stars. However, the rating is held back by the fund's mediocre long-term risk-adjusted performance. This can be seen in its five-year alpha calculated relative to the category index, which suggests that the process has struggled over that period. The instability of talent across its parent firm also weakens the process. The firm's asset-weighted manager tenure of three years suggests it could do more to hold onto portfolio managers.

 This strategy leans toward larger, more undervalued companies compared with its average peer in the Global Large-Stock Value Morningstar Category. Examining additional factor exposure, this strategy consistently held some companies with relatively lower trading volume compared with Morningstar Category peers in the last few years. Less-liquid stocks might offer strong returns to compensate for their risks, but they can be harder and more expensive to trade in bear markets. In the latest month, the strategy was also less exposed to the Liquidity factor compared with Morningstar Category peers. This strategy has also tilted toward low-quality stocks, companies with higher financial leverage and lower profitability over peers in recent years. Lacking this ballast, the fund's prospects could rest on its ability to beat peers during economic booms. Similarly, in recent months, the strategy also had less exposure to the Quality factor than peers. Additionally, this strategy has demonstrated a tilt toward low-volatility stocks in these years, meaning companies with a lower historical standard deviation of returns over its peers. These companies have historically been a valuable ballast to steady portfolio returns during market downturns. In recent months, the strategy also had less Volatility factor exposure than its peers. More information on a fund and its respective category's factor exposure can be found in the Factor Profile module within the Portfolio section. 

 The portfolio is overweight in financial services and utilities relative to the category average by 11.5 and 7.5 percentage points, respectively. The sectors with low exposure compared to category peers are industrials and basic materials, underweight the average by 6.9 and 6.5 percentage points of assets, respectively. The portfolio is positioned across 661 holdings and is relatively top-heavy. Of the strategy's assets, 21.2% are concentrated within the top 10 holdings, as opposed to the typical peer's 14.0%. And finally, in terms of portfolio turnover, looking at year-over-year movements, 45% of the fund's holdings have turned over, whether through increasing, decreasing, or changing a position.

Below Average

Process

WisdomTree’s equity  team is comparable to peers, resulting in an Average People Pillar rating. There’s a sizable bench of five managers listed on the fund. Together, they manage a total of 113 strategies, with a Bronze asset-weighted average Morningstar Medalist Rating, indicating the potential to deliver positive alpha relative to the category median in aggregate.  

 Note: This People Pillar rating is indirectly assigned by an analyst. Morningstar analysts evaluate the People Pillar for passive products at the brand level and may also differentiate by asset class. There is at least one other passive strategy at the firm that is covered by a Morningstar analyst, so the People Pillar rating of the fund is inherited from the rating that the Morningstar analyst assigned to investment vehicles under the same brand name.

Average

People

WisdomTree is improving, but its shaky global fund lineup and uncertain trajectory hold its rating to Below Average. 

WisdomTree’s research organization has long been a strength. Under CIO Jeremy Schwartz, the team has generated creative, economically sound ideas and evolved them into investable products, like the efficient core series. A recent focus on investor education spawned the Portfolio Analysis Tools Hub, an online platform that taps the team’s brainpower to help investors make better investment decisions.

The firm’s product lineup is a mixed bag. To complement its core lineup of fundamentally weighted strategies, WisdomTree has recently launched funds targeting established factors instead of trendy themes—an encouraging reorientation. Yet the shutdown of WisdomTree U.S. Growth and Momentum ETF calls WisdomTree’s commitment to these funds into question, and vestiges from its laxer product-development era look ripe for closure. Its European lineup features risky trading tools that are hard for investors to use well. 

WisdomTree’s future may hinge on WisdomTree Prime, its blockchain-based digital wallet. The launch reflects founder and CEO Jonathan Steinberg’s conviction in the disruptive potential of the blockchain. Prime shouldn’t hurt WisdomTree fund investors (most funds on the platform are zero-fee), but it may distract the firm from shoring up its core offering.

Parent

WisdomTree Global High Dividend Fund

DEW tracks an index of the top 30% of global dividend-paying stocks ranked by dividend yield and weighted by dividends.

WisdomTree Emerging Markets High Dividend Fund

WisdomTree U.S. High Dividend Fund

WisdomTree International High Dividend Fund

AAM S&P Emerging Markets High Dividend Value ETF 

Enbridge

Enterprise Products Partners

Fidelity High Dividend ETF

Xtrackers MSCI All World ex US High Dividend Yield Equity ETF

Xt EAFE Div Yld Shs

iShares Core High Dividend ETF

Voya Asia Pacific High Dividend Equity Income Fund

Voya Emerging Markets High Income Dividend Equity Fund

Invesco KBW High Dividend Yield Financial ETF

Legg Mason Low Volatility High Dividend ETF

Legg Mason International Low Volatility High Dividend ETF

Newmont Mining

Schwab US Dividend Equity ETF

ETRACS 2xMonthly Pay Leveraged US Small Cap High Dividend ETN

AAM S&P 500 High Dividend Value ETF

Invesco S&P 500 High Dividend Low Volatility ETF

SPDR Portfolio S&P 500 High Dividend ETF

Timothy Plan High Dividend Stock ETF

Vanguard Real Estate ETF

Dividend stocks, including REITs and utilities, have underperformed in recent years. Rising interest rates and increasing costs of capital have contributed to the underperformance. The beginnings of a strong dividend stock rally may have just begun on the back of some very good news.

Very Good News For Dividend Stocks

Apple

BHP Billiton

HSBC Holdings

Microsoft

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing

WisdomTree conducts an annual rebalance of its Global Dividend Index, with 5,410 selected companies from the U.S. and other countries. Japanese equities have seen significant dividend growth since the end of 2019, outpacing other markets.

2023 Global Dividend Rebalance

iShares Core Dividend Growth ETF

WisdomTree US Quality Dividend Growth Fund

Sound Equity Income ETF

WisdomTree U.S. Total Dividend Fund

VanEck Morningstar High Dividend ETF

iShares Select Dividend ETF

First Trust Morningstar Dividend Leaders Index Fund

Fidelity Dividend ETF for Rising Rates

First Trust Value Line Dividend Index Fund

FlexShares Quality Dividend Defensive Index Fund

Investing in dividend-paying stocks has proved to be a helpful strategy, outperforming global markets over the long term. Dividend income strategies play an important role for multi-asset income portfolios. But they can also run the risk of being too narrowly focused, which can limit both income potential and upside participation when equity markets rise.

Dividend Investing: Broader Is Better For Multi-Asset Strategies

Invesco S&P Intl Developed High Dividend Low Volatility ETF

Vanguard High Dividend Yield ETF

Vanguard International High Dividend Yield ETF

WBI Power Factor High Dividend ETF

Invesco S&P SmallCap High Dividend Low Volatility ETF

Stocks paying higher dividends showed their mettle during a challenging 2022: the S&P 500 High Dividend Index declined only a modest –1.1% even as the S&P 500 tumbled –18.1%. In our view, much of the volatility in high-dividend strategies, broadly speaking, comes down to portfolio design choices, which can create very different characteristics.

Taming Biases In High-Dividend Equity Strategies

iShares MSCI Global Multifactor ETF

iShares MSCI ACWI ETF

iShares Edge MSCI Min Vol Global ETF

FlexShares Real Assets Allocation Index Fund

JPMorgan BetaBuilders Europe ETF

Global X Health & Wellness Thematic ETF

Inspire Global Hope ETF

iShares MSCI ACWI Low Carbon Target ETF

Xtrackers MSCI Europe Hedged Equity ETF

Xtrackers MSCI Eurozone Hedged Equity ETF

WisdomTree Europe SmallCap Dividend Fund

SPDR Global Dow ETF

SmartETFs Dividend Builder ETF

Davis Select Worldwide ETF

Global X Education ETF

FlexShares STOXX Global ESG Select Index Fund

WisdomTree Europe Quality Dividend Growth Fund

ProShares MSCI Europe Dividend Growers ETF

WisdomTree Europe Hedged SmallCap Equity Fund

iShares MSCI Eurozone ETF

First Trust STOXX European Select Dividend Index Fund

First Trust Europe AlphaDEX Fund

First Trust Eurozone AlphaDEX ETF

Investors were net purchasers of money market funds while being net redeemers of equity funds, tax-exempt fixed income funds, and taxable bond funds for the week. For the week, the average equity fund (including ETFs) witnessed market declines of 1.01%, while its taxable fixed income counterpart declined 0.23%.

U.S. Fund And ETF Investors Continue To Favor Foreign Issues In 2023

U.S.-centric investors have been accustomed to even fewer declines. Equities had only one negative return of less than 5% during the same period. As earnings have continued to trend positively, dividend payouts - which tend to be far less volatile than stock prices - have shown continued growth.

Falling Market Prices But Growing Dividends

WisdomTree has long established itself as an innovator and experienced ETF issuer, having launched one of the only non-market-cap-weighted ETF options on the market in June, 2006.

An Experienced Approach to Value Investing With WisdomTree

Charter Communications

iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF

iShares MSCI EAFE ETF

General Electric

Alphabet

Home Depot

iShares Russell Top 200 ETF

iShares Russell 2000 ETF

iShares Russell 3000 ETF

JPMorgan Chase & Co

Procter & Gamble

iShares MSCI EAFE Small-Cap ETF

SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust

Walmart

More than $14 billion has flown into dividend-focused ETFs in the first two months of the year, compared to less than $2 billion over the same period in 2021.

February Dividend Update: Outperformance Continues

News for WisdomTree Global High Dividend Fund ETF (DEW)