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 | 0.60% |
Distribution and/or Service (12b-1) Fees | None |
Other Expenses | 0.00% |
Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses | 0.04% |
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses | 0.64% 1 |
1 | The Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses in this fee table may not correlate to the expense ratios in the Fund’s financial highlights and financial statements because the financial highlights and financial statements reflect only the operating expenses of the Fund and do not include Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses, which are fees and expenses incurred indirectly by the Fund through its investments in certain underlying investment companies. |
1 Year | 3 Years | 5 Years | 10 Years | |
$ 65 | $ 205 | $ 357 | $ 798 |
2 WisdomTree Trust Prospectus |
■ | 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. |
■ | Market Risk. The trading prices of commodities, currencies, fixed income 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. |
■ | Shares of the Fund May Trade at Prices Other Than NAV. As with all 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. |
■ | Capital Controls and Sanctions Risk. Economic conditions, such as volatile currency exchange rates and interest rates, political events, military action and other conditions may, without prior warning, lead to foreign government intervention (including intervention by the U.S. government with respect to foreign governments, economic sectors, foreign companies and related securities and interests) and the imposition of capital controls and/or sanctions, which may also include retaliatory actions of one government against another government, such as seizure of assets. Capital controls and/or sanctions include the prohibition of, or restrictions on, the |
WisdomTree Trust Prospectus 3 |
ability to own or transfer currency, securities or other assets, which may potentially include derivative instruments related thereto. Capital controls and/or sanctions may also impact the ability of the Fund to buy, sell, transfer, receive, deliver or otherwise obtain exposure to, foreign securities or currency, negatively impact the value and/or liquidity of such instruments, adversely affect the trading market and price for shares of the Fund, and cause the Fund to decline in value. |
■ | Cash Redemption Risk. The Fund generally redeems shares for cash or otherwise includes cash as part of its redemption proceeds. The Fund may be required to sell or unwind portfolio investments in order to obtain the cash needed to distribute redemption proceeds. This may cause the Fund to recognize a capital gain that it might not have recognized if it had made a redemption in-kind. As a result, the Fund may pay out higher annual capital gain distributions than if the in-kind redemption process was used. |
■ | Commodity Risk. The value of commodities and commodity-linked derivative instruments typically is based upon the price movements of a physical commodity or an economic variable linked to such price movements. The prices of commodities and commodity-related investments may fluctuate quickly and dramatically and may not correlate to price movements in other asset classes. An active trading market may not exist for certain commodities. Each of these factors and events could have a significant negative impact on the Fund. |
■ | Counterparty and Issuer Credit Risk. The financial condition of an issuer of a debt security or other instrument or a counterparty to a derivative or other contract may cause such issuer or counterparty to default, become unable to pay interest or principal due or otherwise fail to honor its obligations or cause such issuer or counterparty to be perceived (whether by market participants, rating agencies, pricing services or otherwise) as being in such situations. The value of an investment in the Fund may change quickly and without warning in response to issuer or counterparty defaults, changes in the credit ratings of the Fund’s portfolio investments and/or perceptions related thereto. |
■ | Currency Exchange Rate Risk. 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. |
■ | Deflation Risk. The Fund currently invests a relatively large percentage of its assets in inflation-linked securities and instruments that provide similar exposure. In the event of a general decline in commodity and consumer prices, commonly referred to as “deflation,” these securities may lose value and have an adverse effect on Fund performance. |
■ | Derivatives Risk. The Fund may invest in derivatives. Derivatives are financial instruments that derive their performance from an underlying reference asset, such as a commodity, index, interest rate or inflation rate. The return on a derivative instrument may not correlate with the return of its underlying reference asset. Derivatives are subject to a number of risks described elsewhere in the Fund’s Prospectus, such as counterparty and issuer credit risk, interest rate risk, market risk and issuer-specific risk. Derivatives can be volatile and may be less liquid than other securities. As a result, the value of an investment in the Fund may change quickly and without warning and you may lose money. In addition to the other risks associated with the use of derivatives described elsewhere in this Prospectus, there are risks associated with the Fund’s use of forward currency contracts, futures contracts and/or swaps. With respect to forward currency contracts, these risks include but are not limited to the risk that the counterparty will default on its obligations. With respect to swaps and futures contracts, these risks include but are not limited to: (1) the success of the adviser’s and sub-adviser’s ability to predict movements in the prices of individual indexes or securities, fluctuations in markets and movements in interest rates; (2) an imperfect or no correlation between the changes in market value of the indexes or securities and the prices of swaps and futures contracts; and (3) no guarantee that an active market will exist for swaps and futures contracts at any particular time. |
■ | Emerging Markets Risk. Investments in securities and instruments traded in developing or emerging markets, or that provide exposure to such securities or markets, can involve additional risks relating to political, economic, or regulatory conditions not associated with investments in U.S. securities and instruments or investments in more developed international markets. Such conditions may impact the ability of the Fund to buy, sell or otherwise transfer securities, adversely affect the trading market and price for Fund shares and cause the Fund to decline in value. |
4 WisdomTree Trust Prospectus |
■ | Exchange Traded Products Risk. The Fund is subject to the same risks associated with the securities held by ETPs in which the Fund may invest. Such ETPs may not achieve their investment goals or may not be available for investment. In addition, by investing in the Fund, shareholders indirectly bear fees and expenses charged by the ETPs in addition to the Fund’s direct fees and expenses. |
■ | Foreign Securities Risk. Investments in non-U.S. securities 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 and may be heightened in connection with investments in developing or emerging markets countries. |
■ | Geographic Investment Risk. To the extent the Fund invests a significant portion of its assets in 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. |
■ | Geopolitical Risk. Some countries and regions in which the Fund invests have experienced security concerns, war, threats of war, aggression and/or conflict, terrorism, economic uncertainty, natural and environmental disasters and/or systemic market dislocations (including due to events outside of such countries or regions) that have led, and in the future may lead, to increased short-term market volatility and may have adverse long-term effects on the U.S. and world economies and markets generally, each of which may negatively impact the Fund’s investments. |
■ | High Yield Securities Risk. Higher yielding, high risk debt securities, sometimes referred to as junk bonds, may present additional risk because these securities may be less liquid and present more credit risk than investment grade bonds. The price of high yield securities tends to be more susceptible to issuer-specific operating results and outlook and to real or perceived adverse economic and competitive industry conditions. |
■ | Income Fluctuation Risk. The Fund’s periodic income distributions are likely to fluctuate considerably more than the income distributions of a typical bond fund. The Fund’s income may decline during periods of deflation or due to changes in expectations concerning the rate of inflation. In deflationary environments, the principal and income of an inflation- protected security will decline and could result in losses for the Fund. |
■ | Inflation Risk. An increase in the principal amount of an inflation-linked bond will be considered taxable ordinary income, even though investors do not receive the increased principal until maturity. As a result, in certain circumstances, the Fund may be required to make annual distributions to shareholders that exceed the cash received by the Fund on its investments. This may cause the Fund to liquidate investments when it might not be advantageous to do so and may have negative tax consequences. |
■ | Interest Rate Risk. Interest rate risk is the risk that fixed income securities will decline in value because of an increase in interest rates and changes to other factors, such as perception of an issuer’s creditworthiness. Funds with higher durations generally are subject to greater interest rate risk. For example, the price of a security with a ten-year duration would be expected to drop by approximately 10% in response to a 1% increase in interest rates. |
■ | 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. |
■ | Liquidity Risk. The Fund may invest in derivatives and other instruments that may be less liquid than other types of investments. The derivatives in which the Fund invests may not always be liquid. This could have a negative effect on the Fund’s ability to achieve its investment objective and may result in losses to Fund shareholders. |
■ | Management Risk. The Fund is actively managed using proprietary investment strategies and processes. There can be no guarantee that these strategies and processes will be successful or that the Fund will achieve its investment objective. |
■ | 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. |
WisdomTree Trust Prospectus 5 |
■ | Portfolio Turnover Risk. The Fund’s strategy may frequently involve buying and selling portfolio securities to rebalance the Fund’s exposure to various market sectors. Higher portfolio turnover may result in the Fund paying higher levels of transaction costs and generating greater tax liabilities for shareholders. Portfolio turnover risk may cause the Fund’s performance to be less than you expect. |
■ | Repurchase Agreement Risk. The Fund’s investment in repurchase agreements may be subject to market and credit risk with respect to the collateral securing the repurchase agreements. Investments in repurchase agreements also may be subject to the risk that the market value of the underlying obligations may decline prior to the expiration of the repurchase agreement term. |
■ | Short Sales Risk. The Fund may engage in “short sale” transactions. The Fund will lose value if the security or instrument that is the subject of a short sale increases in value. The Fund also may enter into a short derivative position through a futures contract, swap agreement, structured note, or short positions on currency forwards. If the price of the security or derivative that is the subject of a short sale increases, then the Fund will incur a loss equal to the increase in price from the time that the short sale was entered into plus any premiums and interest paid to a third party in connection with the short sale. The risk of loss on a shorted position arises from the increase in value of the security sold short and is potentially unlimited unlike the risk of loss on a long position, which is limited to the amount paid for the investment plus transaction costs. Therefore, short sales involve the risk that losses may be exaggerated, potentially losing more money than the actual cost of the investment. Also, there is the risk that the third party to the short sale may fail to honor its contract terms, causing a loss to the Fund. |
■ | Sovereign Debt Risk. Bonds issued by governments, sometimes referred to as “sovereign” debt, present risks not associated with investments in other types of bonds. The government or agency issuing the debt may be unable or unwilling to make interest payments and/or repay the principal owed. In such instance, the Fund may have limited recourse against the issuing government or agency. In the past, governments of emerging market countries have refused to honor their payment obligations on issued bonds. |
■ | Subsidiary Investment Risk. Changes in the laws of the United States and/or the Cayman Islands, under which the Fund and the WisdomTree Subsidiary are organized, respectively, could result in the inability of the WisdomTree Subsidiary to operate as intended and could negatively affect the Fund and its shareholders. |
■ | Tax Risk. The Fund expects to obtain exposure to the commodities markets by entering into commodity-linked derivative instruments, such as listed futures contracts. The Fund intends to invest in such commodity-linked derivative instruments, in whole or in part, indirectly through the WisdomTree Subsidiary. In order for the Fund to qualify as a regulated investment company, the Fund must derive at least 90% of its gross income each taxable year from qualifying income. Income from certain commodity-linked derivative instruments in which the Fund invests directly may not be considered qualifying income. The Fund will seek to limit such income so as to qualify as a regulated investment company. Failure to comply with the requirements for qualification as a regulated investment company would have significant negative tax consequences to Fund shareholders. |
6 WisdomTree Trust Prospectus |
Return | Quarter/Year | |
Highest Return | 5.13% | 3Q/2012 |
Lowest Return | (6.88)% | 2Q/2013 |
WisdomTree Global Real Return Fund | 1 Year | Since
Inception July 14, 2011 |
Return Before Taxes Based on NAV | (6.18)% | (3.27)% |
Return After Taxes on Distributions | (7.99)% | (4.29)% |
Return After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Fund Shares | (3.50)% | (2.82)% |
BofA Merrill Lynch Global Diversified Inflation-Linked Index (Reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes) | (7.27)% | (0.18)% |
BofA Merrill Lynch Global Diversified Inflation-Linked Index Hedged (Reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes) | (0.87)% | 3.26% |
WisdomTree Trust Prospectus 7 |
8 WisdomTree Trust Prospectus | WIS-RRF -SUM-0117 |