WisdomTree Europe SmallCap Dividend ETF's Average Process Pillar and People Pillar ratings result in a Morningstar Medalist Rating of Neutral. The portfolio maintains a sizable cost advantage over competitors, priced within the second-lowest fee quintile among peers.  

 The strategy receives an Average Process Pillar rating. Independent of the rating, analysis of the strategy's portfolio shows it has maintained a significant overweight position in volatility exposure and yield exposure compared with category peers. High volatility exposure is attributed to companies with a higher standard deviation of returns. And a high yield exposure is rooted in holding high dividend-paying or buyback stocks. 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

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

The main contributor to the rating is its parent firm's superior long-term risk-adjusted performance, as shown by the firm's average 10-year Morningstar Rating of 3.4 stars. This fund tracks an index, which also increases its process rating. Historical data, like Morningstar's Active/Passive Barometer, shows that passively managed funds have generally outperformed their active counterparts, especially over longer time horizons. Lastly, the process is limited by the fund's unimpressive 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.

 This strategy skews toward smaller, more undervalued companies than its average peer in the Europe Stock Morningstar Category. Analyzing additional factors, this strategy has exhibited a tilt toward high-volatility stocks or the shares of companies with histories of the higher standard deviation of returns, compared with Morningstar Category peers in the last few years. This orientation tends to pay off most prominently when markets are hot. In recent months, the strategy was more exposed to the Volatility factor compared with its Morningstar Category peers as well. The managers have also tended to overweight yield during recent years, shown by the portfolio's high exposure to dividends or buybacks. Stocks with high yields can be more stable, mature companies, but at times extreme market pressure or fundamental deterioration may prompt them to cut their dividends, which tends to hurt stock performance. Compared with category peers, the strategy also had more exposure to the Yield factor in the most recent month. In addition, this strategy has constantly held more illiquid stocks, evidenced by holdings' low trading volume, resulting in higher liquidity risk exposure than peers. 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 recent months, the strategy also had less Liquidity 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 industrials and real estate relative to the category average by 14.2 and 6.2 percentage points, respectively. The sectors with low exposure compared to category peers are healthcare and consumer defensive, underweight the average by 9.1 and 5.2 percentage points of assets, respectively. The strategy owns 298 securities and is less top-heavy than peers. Specifically, 13.8% of the fund’s assets are concentrated within the top 10 fund holdings, as opposed to the category average's 21.8%. And in closing, in terms of portfolio turnover, on a year-over-year basis, 46% of the fund's holdings have turned over, whether through increasing, decreasing, or changing a position.

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, demonstrating their 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.

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.

Below Average

Parent

WisdomTree Europe SmallCap Dividend Fund

DFE tracks a dividend-weighted index of small-cap, dividend-paying stocks in Europe.

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Eurozone business activity remained in contraction at the end of the third quarter of the year, as an increased rate of loss of orders led to a further decline in activity. The overall reduction in output was again led by manufacturing, but the service sector saw activity decrease for the second month running.

Eurozone Flash PMI Fuels Further Downturn Worries As Demand Weakness Intensifies

The ECB just announced its tenth consecutive policy rate hike since July last year, hiking all interest rates by 25bp. Higher inflation and inflation forecasts look like the main drivers of the hike.

ECB Announces Final Rate Hike

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Markets are torn. Will the ECB hike this week or not?

ECB Cheat Sheet: Is A Hike Hawkish Enough?

Inflation in the eurozone did not fall in August, which could tip the ECB in favour of a final 25bp hike at the governing council meeting in two weeks' time. Still, overall inflation dynamics remain relatively benign, and we still expect inflation to trend much lower at the end of the year.

Eurozone Inflation Stagnates Ahead Of ECB September Meeting

Eurozone business activity contracted at an accelerating pace in August, according to the latest flash PMI survey data. The overall rate of input cost inflation and selling prices remained indicative of consumer price inflation running at an annual rate of 3% in the coming months.

Eurozone Downturn Deepens According To Flash PMI But Inflation Pressures Tick Higher

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Eurozone PMI Paints Worrisome Growth Picture

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As the ECB has been putting increasing emphasis on the recent readings of underlying inflation, it is more important to look at the short-term dynamics than at the year-on-year figures. While some easing of inflationary tensions is indeed observable, it would be premature to exclude another rate hike.

The 'Real' Dynamics Of Core Inflation In The Eurozone

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The CPI for services spiked by 5.6% in July, compared to a year ago, up from 5.4% in June and 5.0% in May, another record in the data going back to 1997, according to Eurostat today. “Core” CPI (without food and energy products that consumers buy) remained at 5.5% in July, same as in June, and up from 5.3% in May.

Runaway Services Inflation In Euro Area Spikes To Record. Core CPI Stays Near Record

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The seasonally adjusted HCOB Flash Eurozone Composite PMI Output Index, based on approximately 85% of usual survey responses, dropped from 49.9 in June to 48.9 in July, its lowest since last November. The dearth of new orders meant backlogs of work fell at an increased rate as companies often relied on previously placed orders to support current operating levels.

Eurozone Flash PMI Signals Cooling Inflation Amid Rising Recession Risks

Higher interest rates soon would prevent more economic pain later. The European Central Bank could prevent inflation expectations from becoming unmoored and drifting upwards by continuing to raise its policy rate.

Europe Should Tighten Monetary Policy Further

The European Central Bank looks set to hike rates by 25bp on Thursday. With the bleak economic outlook and disinflation gaining traction, however, the end to rate hikes is near.

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The WisdomTree Europe SmallCap Dividend ETF (DFE) made its debut on 06/16/2006, and is a smart beta exchange traded fund that provides broad exposure to the European Equity ETFs category of the market.

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The latest data show that eurozone growth is not picking up, with services now also losing steam. While it's not all downhill from here, subdued growth is the best we can hope for.

A Languishing Eurozone Economy

Industrial production growth in Europe has more or less stagnated since late 2020 as the speedy recovery that followed the first round of lockdowns came to a halt. At the same time, the sector is in an incredible state of flux; structural changes around energy and trade are providing substantial challenges for businesses.

Europe's Industry Outlook: We're Still Riding The Energy And Pandemic Shockwaves

Rising corporate profits account for almost half the increase in Europe's inflation over the past two years, as companies increased prices by more than spiking costs of imported energy. Europe's businesses have so far been shielded more than workers from the adverse cost shock.

Europe's Inflation Outlook Depends On How Corporate Profits Absorb Wage Gains

Eurozone business output growth came close to stalling in June, according to the latest HCOB flash PMI survey data produced by S&P Global, pointing to renewed weakness in the economy after the brief growth revival recorded in the spring. Backlogs of work fell at the steepest rate for seven months, reflecting the sustained (albeit moderating) output growth at a time of falling inflows of new work.

Eurozone Flash PMI Shows Inflation Pressures Cooling In June As Economic Upturn Fades

The European Central Bank raised its key rate by 25 basis points as expected, but startled investors with its outlook. The European Central Bank decisions last week were in line with market expectations.

Surprisingly Hawkish ECB Forecasts Challenge Market

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The European Central Bank President, Christine Lagarde, is keeping the door wide open for more interest rate rises this summer. Lagarde has been explaining her decision to raise eurozone rates again by 25 basis points today.

Lagarde Pre-Announces Another ECB Rate Hike For July

Slowly but surely, the inflation outlook for the eurozone is improving. Headline inflation is normalising, but persistent core inflation is complicating things.

The Eurozone's Improving Inflation Outlook Could Leave The ECB Behind The Curve

A 25bp rate hike looks like a done deal for next week's European Central Bank meeting. However, with growth disappointing, the economic outlook getting gloomier and inflation dropping, arguments for several more rate hikes are becoming weaker.

ECB Preview: Don't Look Back In Anger

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For the first time in over a decade, labor unions have leverage - and fully intend to take advantage of it. Despite historically outsized wage settlements, real wages remain negative and are unlikely to be positive for some time.

Europe's Unionized Wage Pressures

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Most ETF trading activity occurs in the secondary market, where ETF shares change hands between buyers and sellers. March 2023 saw a number of shocks to global financial markets, including bank bailouts and the prolonged effects of a heightened interest rate environment.

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UBS will receive substantial downside protection on acquired CS non-core assets of up to CHF25 billion. Credit Suisse remains active and should continue meeting its obligations until the merger closes, likely in the second quarter of 2023.

European Banks After Credit Suisse

The ECB continues to fight against inflation and seems unperturbed by the market turmoil of the last few days. Dropping forward guidance, lowering inflation projections, and a growing awareness that the tightening so far can have adverse effects all suggest that today's meeting probably marks the final phase of ECB tightening.

News for WisdomTree Europe SmallCap Dividend Fund ETF (DFE)