Launched on 10/30/2007, the WisdomTree Emerging Markets SmallCap Dividend ETF (DGS) is a smart beta exchange traded fund offering broad exposure to the Broad Emerging Market ETFs category of the market.
What Are Smart Beta ETFs?
The ETF industry has long been dominated by products based on market cap weighted indexes, a strategy created to reflect the market or a particular market segment.
Investors who believe in market efficiency should consider market cap indexes, as they replicate market returns in a low-cost, convenient, and transparent way.
But, there are some investors who would rather invest in smart beta funds; these funds track non-cap weighted strategies, and are a strong option for those who prefer choosing great stocks in order to beat the market.
This kind of index follows this same mindset, as it attempts to pick stocks that have better chances of risk-return performance; non-cap weighted strategies base selection on certain fundamental characteristics, or a mix of such characteristics.
While this space offers a number of choices to investors, including simplest equal-weighting, fundamental weighting and volatility/momentum based weighting methodologies, not all these strategies have been able to deliver superior results.
Fund Sponsor & Index
The fund is sponsored by Wisdomtree. It has amassed assets over $1.62 billion, making it one of the larger ETFs in the Broad Emerging Market ETFs. DGS, before fees and expenses, seeks to match the performance of the WisdomTree Emerging Markets SmallCap Dividend Index.
The WisdomTree Emerging Markets SmallCap Dividend Index is a fundamentally weighted index that measures the performance of primarily small cap stocks selected from the WisdomTree Emerging Markets Dividend Index. Companies included in the Index fall within the bottom 10% of total market capitalization of the WisdomTree Emerging Markets Dividend Index.
Cost & Other Expenses
For ETF investors, expense ratios are an important factor when considering a fund's return; in the long-term, cheaper funds actually have the ability to outperform their more expensive cousins if all other things remain the same.
Operating expenses on an annual basis are 0.58% for DGS, making it on par with most peer products in the space.
DGS's 12-month trailing dividend yield is 2.69%.
Sector Exposure and Top Holdings
It is important to delve into an ETF's holdings before investing despite the many upsides to these kinds of funds like diversified exposure, which minimizes single stock risk. And, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.
Looking at individual holdings, Us Dollar accounts for about 63.85% of total assets, followed by Indonesian Rupiah and Indian Rupee.
Its top 10 holdings account for approximately 99.15% of DGS's total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
Year-to-date, the WisdomTree Emerging Markets SmallCap Dividend ETF has added roughly 16.32% so far, and it's up approximately 9.01% over the last 12 months (as of 08/20/2025). DGS has traded between $43.34 $56.88 in this past 52-week period.
The fund has a beta of 0.64 and standard deviation of 14.23% for the trailing three-year period, which makes DGS a medium risk choice in this particular space. With about 1082 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk .
Alternatives
WisdomTree Emerging Markets SmallCap Dividend ETF is a reasonable option for investors seeking to outperform the Broad Emerging Market ETFs segment of the market. However, there are other ETFs in the space which investors could consider.
Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets ETF (VWO) tracks FTSE Emerging Markets All Cap China A Inclusion Index and the iShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets ETF (IEMG) tracks MSCI Emerging Markets Investable Market Index. Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets ETF has $96.05 billion in assets, iShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets ETF has $101.53 billion. VWO has an expense ratio of 0.07% and IEMG changes 0.09%.
Investors looking for cheaper and lower-risk options should consider traditional market cap weighted ETFs that aim to match the returns of the Broad Emerging Market ETFs
Bottom Line
To learn more about this product and other ETFs, screen for products that match your investment objectives and read articles on latest developments in the ETF investing universe, please visit Zacks ETF Center.
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WisdomTree Emerging Markets SmallCap Dividend ETF (DGS): ETF Research ReportsThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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