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% 1 |
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses | 0.48% |
Fee Waivers | (0.05)% 2 |
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Fee Waivers | 0.43% 2 |
1 | Other Expenses are based on estimated amounts for the current fiscal year. |
2 | WisdomTree Asset Management, Inc. (“WisdomTree Asset Management” or the “Adviser”) has contractually agreed to limit the Management Fee to 0.43% through October 31, 2017, unless earlier terminated by the Board of Trustees of WisdomTree Trust (the “Trust”) for any reason at any time. |
1 Year | 3 Years | |
$ 44 | $ 149 |
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 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. |
■ | 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. |
■ | Cash Redemption Risk. The Fund’s investment strategy will require it to redeem shares for cash or to otherwise include 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. |
■ | Consumer Discretionary Sector Risk. The Fund currently invests a significant portion of its assets in the consumer discretionary 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. |
■ | Currency Exchange Rate Risk. The Fund’s strategies associated with currency hedging per the currency hedge ratios determined by the quantitative signals set forth in the Fund’s principal investment strategy may not be successful. Further, in order to minimize transaction costs, or for other reasons, the Fund’s exposure to the non-U.S. currencies may not be hedged to the extent indicated by any or all of the quantitative signals. Currency exchange rates can be very volatile and can change quickly and unpredictably. Therefore, the value of an investment in the Fund may also go up or down quickly and unpredictably and investors may lose money. |
■ | 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 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 and futures contracts. 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 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 currencies or securities, fluctuations in |
WisdomTree Trust Prospectus 3 |
markets and movements in interest rates; (2) an imperfect or no correlation between the changes in market value of the currencies or securities and the prices of futures contracts; and (3) no guarantee that an active market will exist for the contracts at any particular time. |
■ | 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. |
■ | Financial Sector Risk. The Fund currently invests a significant portion of its assets in the financial sector, and therefore the performance of the Fund could be negatively impacted by events affecting this sector. This sector can be significantly affected by changes in interest rates, government regulation, the rate of defaults on corporate, consumer and government debt, the availability and cost of capital, and fallout from the housing and sub-prime mortgage crisis. |
■ | 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 Concentration in Japan. Because the Fund invests primarily in the securities of companies in Japan, the Fund’s performance is expected to be closely tied to social, political, and economic conditions within Japan and to be more volatile than the performance of more geographically diversified funds. The Japanese economy has only recently emerged from a prolonged economic downturn. Since the year 2000, Japan’s economic growth rate has remained relatively low. The economy is characterized by government intervention and protectionism, an unstable financial services sector, relatively high unemployment, an aging and declining population and large government debt. Economic growth is heavily dependent on international trade, government support of the financial services sector and other troubled sectors, and consistent government policy. The United States has historically been Japan’s largest single trading partner, but a significant portion of Japan’s trade is conducted with developing nations, almost all of which are in Southeast Asia. Slowdowns in the U.S. and/or China and other Southeast Asian countries, including economic, political or social instability in such countries, could have a negative impact on Japan. Exposure to China, in terms of both imports and exports, has been increasing in recent years. These and other factors could have a negative impact on the Fund’s performance and increase the volatility of an investment in the Fund. |
■ | 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 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. |
■ | Hedging Risk. Derivatives used by the Fund to offset its exposure to foreign currencies represented in the Index may not perform as intended. There can be no assurance that the Fund’s hedging transactions will be effective. The value of an investment in the Fund could be significantly and negatively impacted if foreign currencies represented in the Index appreciate at the same time that the value of the Fund's equity holdings fall. |
■ | Index and Data Risk. The Fund is not “actively” managed and will seek to track the price and yield performance, before fees and expenses, of the Index. The Index provider has the right to make adjustments to the Index or to cease making the Index available without regard to the particular interests of the Fund or its shareholders. The Index is heavily dependent on quantitative models and data from one or more third parties and the Index may not perform as intended. If the computers or other facilities of the Index provider, Index calculation agent, data providers and/or relevant stock exchange malfunction for any reason, calculation and dissemination of Index values may be delayed and trading in Fund shares may be suspended for a period of time. Errors in Index data, Index calculations and/or the construction of the Index may occur from time to time and may not be identified and/or corrected by the Index provider, Index calculation agent or other applicable party for a period of time or at all, which may have an adverse impact on the Funds and their shareholders. The potential risk of continuing error may be particularly heightened in the case of the Index, which is generally not used as a benchmark by other funds or managers. |
4 WisdomTree Trust Prospectus |
■ | Industrial Sector Risk. The Fund currently invests a significant portion of its assets in the industrial sector. The industrial sector can be significantly affected by, among other things, business cycle fluctuations, worldwide economy growth, government and corporate spending, supply and demand for specific products and manufacturing, and government regulation. |
■ | 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. |
■ | 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. |
■ | Large-Capitalization Investing Risk. 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. |
■ | Mid-Capitalization Investing Risk. 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. |
■ | Non-Correlation Risk. As with all index funds, the performance of the Fund and its Index may differ from each other for a variety of reasons. |
■ | 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 |
6 WisdomTree Trust Prospectus |