The WisdomTree Emerging Markets SmallCap Dividend ETF (DGS) was launched on 10/30/2007, and is a smart beta exchange traded fund designed to offer broad exposure to the Broad Emerging Market ETFs category of the market.
What Are Smart Beta ETFs?
For a long time now, the ETF industry has been flooded with products based on market capitalization weighted indexes, which are designed to represent the broader market or a particular market segment.
A good option for investors who believe in market efficiency, market cap weighted indexes offer a low-cost, convenient, and transparent way of replicating market returns.
On the other hand, some investors who believe that it is possible to beat the market by superior stock selection opt to invest in another class of funds that track non-cap weighted strategies--popularly known as smart beta.
These indexes attempt to select stocks that have better chances of risk-return performance, based on certain fundamental characteristics or a combination 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
Managed by Wisdomtree, DGS has amassed assets over $1.77 billion, making it one of the larger ETFs in the Broad Emerging Market ETFs. This particular fund, 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
Cost is an important factor in selecting the right ETF, and cheaper funds can significantly outperform their more expensive cousins if all other fundamentals are the same.
With on par with most peer products in the space, this ETF has annual operating expenses of 0.58%.
It's 12-month trailing dividend yield comes in at 3.72%.
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, Innolux Corp accounts for about 2.43% of total assets, followed by Growthpoint Properties Ltd (GRT) and Banco Del Bajio Sa (BBAJIOO).
DGS's top 10 holdings account for about 10.3% of its total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
The ETF has added roughly 15.3% so far this year and was up about 18.93% in the last one year (as of 09/04/2026). In the past 52-week period, it has traded between $55.31 and $66.60
The ETF has a beta of 0.62 and standard deviation of 15.04% for the trailing three-year period, making it a medium risk choice in the space. With about 1027 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk .
Alternatives
WisdomTree Emerging Markets SmallCap Dividend ETF is not a suitable option for investors seeking to outperform the Broad Emerging Market ETFs segment of the market. Instead, there are other ETFs in the space which investors should consider.
Vanguard Emerging Markets Stock Index Fund ETF Shares (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 Emerging Markets Stock Index Fund ETF Shares has $127.24 billion in assets, iShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets ETF has $162.21 billion. VWO has an expense ratio of 0.06% 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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