WisdomTree International Quality Dividend Growth Fund – IQDG (BATS)
SUMMARY PROSPECTUS – April 4, 2016
Before you invest in the Fund, as defined below, you may want to review the Fund’s prospectus and statement of additional information (“SAI”), which contain more information about the Fund and the risks of investing in the Fund. The Fund’s current prospectus and SAI are incorporated by reference into this summary prospectus. You can find the Fund’s prospectus and SAI, as well as other information about the Fund, online at www.wisdomtree.com/prospectus. You may also obtain this information at no charge by calling 1-866-909-9473 or by sending an e-mail request to getinfo@wisdomtree.com.
Investment Objective
The WisdomTree International Quality Dividend Growth Fund (the “Fund”) seeks to track the price and yield performance, before fees and expenses, of the WisdomTree International Quality Dividend Growth Index (the “Index”).
Fees and Expenses of the Fund
The following table describes the fees and expenses you may pay if you buy and hold shares of the Fund. The fees are expressed as a percentage of the Fund’s average net assets.
| Shareholder Fees (fees paid directly from your investment) | None | |||
| Annual Fund Operating Expenses (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment) |
||||
| Management Fees |
0.48 | % | ||
| Distribution and/or Service (12b-1) Fees |
None | |||
| Other Expenses* |
0.00 | % | ||
| Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses | 0.48 | % | ||
| Fee Waivers** |
(0.10 | )% | ||
| Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Fee Waivers** | 0.38 | % |
| * | “Other Expenses” are based on estimated amounts for the current fiscal year. |
| ** | WisdomTree Asset Management, Inc. (“WisdomTree Asset Management” or the “Adviser”) has contractually agreed to limit the Management Fee to 0.38% through July 31, 2017, unless earlier terminated by the Board of Trustees of WisdomTree Trust (the “Trust”) for any reason at any time. |
Example
The following example is intended to help retail investors compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other funds. It illustrates the hypothetical expenses that such investors would incur over various periods if they were to invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated and then redeem all of the shares at the end of those periods. This example assumes that the Fund provides a return of 5% a year and that operating expenses remain the same. This example does not include the brokerage commissions that retail investors may pay to buy and sell shares of the Fund. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions, your costs would be:
| 1 Year | 3 Years | |||||||
| $39 | $141 | |||||||
Portfolio Turnover
The Fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when Fund shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in annual fund operating expenses or in the example, affect the Fund’s performance. Because the Fund is newly organized, portfolio turnover information is not yet available.
Principal Investment Strategies of the Fund
The Fund employs a “passive management” – or indexing – investment approach designed to track the performance of the Index. The Fund generally uses a representative sampling strategy to achieve its investment objective, meaning it generally will invest in a sample of the securities in the Index whose risk, return and other characteristics resemble the risk, return and other characteristics of the Index as a whole. Under normal circumstances, at least 80% of the Fund’s total assets (exclusive of collateral held from securities lending) will be invested in component securities of the Index and investments that have economic characteristics that are substantially identical to the economic characteristics of such component securities.
| WisdomTree Prospectus | 1 |
The Index consists of dividend-paying common stocks with growth characteristics of companies in the industrialized world, excluding Canada and the United States. The Index is generally comprised of the 300 companies in the WisdomTree International Equity Index with the best combined rank of certain growth and quality factors: specifically long-term earnings growth expectations, return on equity, and return on assets. The WisdomTree International Equity Index is a fundamentally weighted index that is comprised of dividend-paying companies that pay regular cash dividends. To be eligible for inclusion in the WisdomTree International Equity Index a company must be incorporated in and list its shares on the major stock exchange in one of 15 developed European countries (Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, or the United Kingdom), Israel, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, or Singapore. Currently a significant portion of the Index is comprised of companies organized in the United Kingdom, although this may change from time to time.
To be eligible for inclusion in the Index, a company must meet the following criteria: (i) payment of at least $5 million in cash dividends on common shares in the annual cycle prior to the annual Index screening date; (ii) market capitalization of at least $1 billion as of the Index screening date; (iii) an earnings yield that is greater than its dividend yield; (iv) average daily dollar trading volume of at least $100,000 for the three months preceding the Index screening date; and (v) trading of at least 250,000 shares per month for each of the six months preceding the Index screening date. Eligible companies are ranked according to a rules-based calculation based on the following three factors, weighted as follows: long-term earnings growth expectations (50%), the historical three-year average return on equity (25%), and the historical three-year average return on assets (25%). The top 300 ranked companies are selected for inclusion in the Index.
Securities are weighted in the Index based on dividends paid over the prior annual cycle. Companies that pay a greater total dollar amount of dividends are more heavily weighted. To derive a company’s initial Index weight, (i) multiply the U.S. dollar value of the company’s annual gross dividend per share by the number of common shares outstanding for that company (the “Cash Dividend Factor”); (ii) calculate the Cash Dividend Factor for each company; (iii) add together all of the companies’ Cash Dividend Factors; and (iv) divide the company’s Cash Dividend Factor by the sum of all Cash Dividend Factors. At the time of the Index’s annual screening date, the maximum weight of any security in the Index is capped at 5% and the maximum weight of any one sector or country in the Index is capped at 20%; however, security, sector and country weights may fluctuate above their specified caps in response to market conditions and/or the application of volume factor adjustments, as described below.
In addition, the Index methodology includes volume factor adjustments such that if a component security does not meet certain trading volume thresholds, the security will either be eliminated from inclusion in the Index or its weight in the Index will be reduced and reallocated pro rata among the other securities.
WisdomTree Investments, Inc. (“WisdomTree Investments”), as index provider, currently uses Standard & Poor’s Global Industry Classification Standards (“S&P GICS”) to define companies within a sector. The following sectors are included in the Index: consumer discretionary, consumer staples, energy, financials, health care, industrials, information technology, materials, telecommunication services, and utilities. A sector is comprised of multiple industries. For example, the energy sector is comprised of companies in, among others, the natural gas, oil and petroleum industries. As of the date of this Prospectus, a significant portion of the Index is comprised of companies in the consumer discretionary, consumer staples, and industrial sectors.
To the extent the Index concentrates (i.e., holds 25% or more of its total assets) in the securities of a particular industry or group of industries, the Fund will concentrate its investments to approximately the same extent as the Index.
Principal Risks of Investing in the Fund
You can lose money on your investment in the Fund. The Fund is subject to the risks described below. Some or all of these risks may adversely affect the Fund’s net asset value per share (“NAV”), trading price, yield, total return and/or ability to meet its objectives. For more information about the risks of investing in the Fund, see the sections in the Fund’s Prospectus, titled “Additional Principal Risk Information About the Fund” and “Additional Non-Principal Risk Information.”
| n | Investment Risk. As with all investments, an investment in the Fund is subject to investment risk. Investors in the Fund could lose money, including the possible loss of the entire principal amount of an investment, over short or long periods of time. |
| n | Market Risk. The trading prices of equity securities and other instruments fluctuate in response to a variety of factors, such as events that impact the entire market, market segments, or specific issuers. The Fund’s NAV and market price may fluctuate significantly in response to these and other factors. As a result, an investor could lose money over short or long periods of time. |
| n | Shares of the Fund May Trade at Prices Other Than NAV. As with all exchange-traded funds (“ETFs”), Fund shares may be bought and sold in the secondary market at market prices. The trading prices of the Fund’s shares in the secondary market generally differ from the Fund’s daily NAV, and there may be times when the market price of the shares is more than the NAV (premium) or less than the NAV (discount). This risk is heightened in times of market volatility or periods of steep market declines. Because securities held by the Fund trade on foreign exchanges that are closed when the Fund’s primary listing exchange is open, the Fund is likely to experience premiums and discounts greater than those of domestic ETFs. |
| WisdomTree Prospectus | 2 |
| n | Consumer Discretionary Sector Risk. The Fund currently invests a significant portion of its assets in the consumer discretionary sector, and therefore the performance of the Fund could be negatively impacted by events affecting this sector. This sector consists of, for example, automobile, retail and media companies. The consumer discretionary sector of the economy can be significantly affected by, among other things, economic growth, worldwide demand and consumers’ disposable income levels and propensity to spend. |
| n | Consumer Staples Sector Risk. The Fund currently invests a significant portion of its assets in the consumer staples sector, and therefore the performance of the Fund could be negatively impacted by events affecting this sector. This sector can be significantly affected by, among other things, changes in price and availability of underlying commodities, rising energy prices and global and economic conditions. |
| n | Currency Exchange Rate Risk. The Fund invests a relatively large percentage of its assets in investments denominated in non-U.S. currencies or in securities that provide exposure to such currencies. Changes in currency exchange rates and the relative value of non-U.S. currencies will affect the value of the Fund’s investment and the value of your Fund shares. Currency exchange rates can be very volatile and can change quickly and unpredictably. As a result, the value of an investment in the Fund may change quickly and without warning and you may lose money. |
| n | Dividend Paying Securities Risk. Securities that pay dividends, as a group, may be out of favor with the market and underperform the overall equity market or stocks of companies that do not pay dividends. In addition, changes in the dividend policies of the companies held by the Fund or the capital resources available for such company’s dividend payments may adversely affect the Fund. |
| n | Foreign Securities Risk. The Fund invests primarily in non-U.S. securities and instruments, or in securities that provide exposure to such instruments. Investments in non-U.S. securities and instruments involve certain risks that may not be present with investments in U.S. securities. For example, investments in non-U.S. securities may be subject to risk of loss due to foreign currency fluctuations or to political or economic instability. Investments in non-U.S. securities also may be subject to withholding or other taxes and may be subject to additional trading, settlement, custodial, and operational risks. These and other factors can make investments in the Fund more volatile and potentially less liquid than other types of investments. |
| n | Geographic Investment Risk. To the extent the Fund invests a significant portion of its assets in the securities of companies of a single country or region, it is more likely to be impacted by events or conditions affecting that country or region. The Fund expects to invest a significant portion of its assets in companies incorporated in the United Kingdom, although this may change from time to time. |
| n | Geopolitical Risk. Some countries and regions in which the Fund invests have experienced security concerns, war or threats of war and aggression, terrorism, economic uncertainty, natural and environmental disasters and/or systemic market dislocations that have led, and in the future may lead, to increased short-term market volatility and may have adverse long-term effects on world economies and markets generally, each of which may negatively impact the Fund’s investments. |
| n | Growth Investing Risk. Growth stocks, as a group, may be out of favor with the market and underperform value stocks or the overall equity market. Growth stocks are generally more sensitive to market movements than other types of stocks primarily because their prices are based heavily on the future expectations of the economy and the stock’s issuing company. |
| n | Industrial Sector Risk. The Fund currently invests a significant portion of its assets in the industrial sector, and therefore the performance of the Fund could be negatively impacted by events affecting this sector. The industrial sector can be significantly affected by, among other things, worldwide economy growth, supply and demand for specific products and services, rapid technological developments, and government regulation. |
| n | Investment Style Risk. The Fund invests in the securities included in, or representative of, the Index regardless of their investment merit. The Fund does not attempt to outperform the Index or take defensive positions in declining markets. As a result, the Fund’s performance may be adversely affected by a general decline in the market segments relating to the Index. |
| n | Issuer-Specific Risk. Issuer-specific events, including changes in the financial condition of an issuer, can have a negative impact on the value of the Fund. |
| n | Large-Capitalization Investing. The Fund may invest a relatively large percentage of its assets in the securities of large-capitalization companies. As a result, the Fund’s performance may be adversely affected if securities of large-capitalization companies underperform securities of smaller-capitalization companies or the market as a whole. The securities of large-capitalization companies may be relatively mature compared to smaller companies and therefore subject to slower growth during times of economic expansion. |
| WisdomTree Prospectus | 3 |
| n | Mid-Capitalization Investing. The Fund may invest a relatively large percentage of its assets in the securities of mid-capitalization companies. As a result, the Fund’s performance may be adversely affected if securities of mid-capitalization companies underperform securities of other capitalization ranges or the market as a whole. Securities of smaller companies are often more vulnerable to market volatility than securities of larger companies. |
| n | Non-Correlation Risk. As with all index funds, the performance of the Fund and the Index may differ from each other for a variety of reasons. |
| n | Non-Diversification Risk. The Fund is considered to be non-diversified, which means that it may invest more of its assets in the securities of a single issuer or a smaller number of issuers than if it were a diversified fund. To the extent the Fund invests a significant percentage of its assets in a limited number of issuers, the Fund is subject to the risks of investing in those few issuers, and may be more susceptible to a single adverse economic or regulatory occurrence. As a result, changes in the market value of a single security could cause greater fluctuations in the value of Fund shares than would occur in a diversified fund. |
Fund Performance
The Fund is new and therefore does not have a performance history.
Management
Investment Adviser and Sub-Adviser
WisdomTree Asset Management, Inc. serves as investment adviser to the Fund. Mellon Capital Management Corporation (“Mellon Capital”) serves as sub-adviser to the Fund.
Portfolio Managers
The Fund is managed by Mellon Capital’s Equity Portfolio Management team. The individual members of the team jointly and primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund’s portfolio are described below.
Karen Q. Wong, CFA, a Managing Director, Head of Equity Portfolio Management, has been a portfolio manager of the Fund since inception.
Richard A. Brown, CFA, a Director and Senior Portfolio Manager, Equity Portfolio Management, has been a portfolio manager of the Fund since inception.
Thomas J. Durante, CFA, a Director and Senior Portfolio Manager, Equity Portfolio Management, has been a portfolio manager of the Fund since inception.
Buying and Selling Fund Shares
The Fund is an ETF. This means that shares of the Fund are listed on a national securities exchange, such as BATS Exchange, Inc., and trade at market prices. Most investors will buy and sell shares of the Fund through brokers. Because Fund shares trade at market prices rather than NAV, shares may trade at a price greater than NAV (premium) or less than NAV (discount).
The Fund issues and redeems shares at NAV only in large blocks of shares (“Creation Units”), which only certain institutions or large investors (typically market makers or other broker-dealers) may purchase or redeem. Currently, Creation Units generally consist of 50,000 shares, though this may change from time to time. Creation Units are not expected to consist of less than 50,000 shares. The Fund generally issues and redeems Creation Units in exchange for a portfolio of securities closely approximating the holdings of the Fund and/or a designated amount of U.S. cash.
Tax Information
The Fund intends to make distributions that may be taxed as ordinary income, qualified dividend income, or capital gains.
Payments to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries
If you purchase shares of the Fund through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a bank) (an “Intermediary”), WisdomTree Asset Management, Inc. or its affiliates may pay Intermediaries for certain activities related to the Fund, including participation in activities that are designed to make Intermediaries more knowledgeable about exchange traded products, including the Fund, or for other activities, such as marketing, educational training or other initiatives related to the sale or promotion of Fund shares. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the Intermediary and your salesperson to recommend the Fund over another investment. Any such arrangements do not result in increased Fund expenses. Ask your salesperson or visit the Intermediary’s website for more information.
| WisdomTree Prospectus | 4 | WIS-IQDG-SUM-0416 |