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.
The Index is a fundamentally weighted index that consists of
the small-capitalization segment of dividend-paying U.S. common stocks with growth characteristics. The starting screening universe for the Index is the constituents of the WisdomTree U.S. SmallCap Dividend Index, which consists of the bottom 25% of
the market capitalization of the WisdomTree U.S. Dividend Index, which defines the dividend-paying universe of companies in the U.S. stock market, after the 300 largest companies have been removed. As of June 30, 2017, the Index had a market
capitalization range from $80.5 million to $3.5 billion, with an average market capitalization of $1.3 billion. To be eligible for inclusion in the Index, a company must meet the following criteria: (i) payment of regular cash dividends on common
shares in the annual cycle prior to the annual Index screening date; (ii) market capitalization of at least $100 million as of the annual Index screening date; (iii) average daily dollar trading volume of at least $100,000 three months preceding the
annual Index screening date; and (iv) an earnings yield greater than the dividend yield. From this starting universe, the Index is comprised of the top 50% of companies with the best combined rank of certain growth and quality factors: specifically
long-term earnings growth expectations, return on equity, and return on assets.
Securities are weighted in the Index to reflect the
proportionate share of the aggregate cash dividends each component company is projected to pay in the coming year, based on the most recently declared dividend per share, a measure of fundamental value. Companies projected to pay more dividends are
more heavily weighted. At the time of the Index’s annual screening date, the maximum weight of any security in the Index is capped at 2% and the maximum weight of any one sector in the Index is capped at 25%; however, security and/or sector
weights may fluctuate above the specified cap in response to market conditions and/or the application of volume factor adjustments. The Index methodology applies a volume factor adjustment to reduce a component security’s weight in the Index
and reallocate the reduction in weight pro rata among the other securities if, as of the annual Index screening date, a component security no longer meets certain trading volume thresholds.
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, real estate, 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 June 30, 2017, a significant portion of the Index is comprised of companies in the consumer discretionary 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 Funds” and “Additional Non-Principal Risk Information.”
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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. |
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Market
Risk. The trading prices of equity securities and other instruments fluctuate in response to a variety of factors, such as economic, financial or political 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. |