Is WisdomTree Emerging Markets High Dividend ETF (DEM) a Strong ETF Right Now?

Launched on 07/13/2007, the WisdomTree Emerging Markets High Dividend ETF (DEM) is a smart beta exchange traded fund offering broad exposure to the Broad Emerging Market ETFs category of the market.

What Are Smart Beta ETFs?

The ETF industry has traditionally been dominated by products based on market capitalization weighted indexes that are designed to represent the market or a particular segment of the market.

Market cap weighted indexes work great for investors who believe in market efficiency. They provide a low-cost, convenient and transparent way of replicating market returns.

If you're the kind of investor who would rather try and beat the market through good stock selection, then smart beta funds are your best choice; this fund class is known for tracking non-cap weighted strategies.

This kind of index follows this same mindset, as it attempts to pick stocks that have better chances of risk-return performance; non-cap weighted strategies base selection on certain fundamental characteristics, or a mix of such characteristics.

The smart beta space gives investors many different choices, from equal-weighting, one of the simplest strategies, to more complicated ones like fundamental and volatility/momentum based weighting. However, not all of these methodologies have been able to deliver remarkable returns.

Fund Sponsor & Index

Because the fund has amassed over $3.46 billion, this makes it one of the largest ETFs in the Broad Emerging Market ETFs. DEM is managed by Wisdomtree. Before fees and expenses, DEM seeks to match the performance of the WisdomTree Emerging Markets High Dividend Index.

The WisdomTree Emerging Markets High Dividend Index is a fundamentally weighted index that measures the performance of the highest dividend yielding stocks selected from the WisdomTree Emerging Markets Dividend Index.

Cost & Other Expenses

Investors should also pay attention to an ETF's expense ratio. Lower cost products will produce better results than those with a higher cost, assuming all other metrics remain the same.

Annual operating expenses for this ETF are 0.63%, making it on par with most peer products in the space.

It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 4.64%.

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.

Taking into account individual holdings, China Construction Bank-haccounts for about 4.19% of the fund's total assets, followed by Mediatek Inc and Industrial & Commercial Bank Of China-h.

Its top 10 holdings account for approximately 21.14% of DEM's total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

So far this year, DEM has gained about 5.2%, and is up about 19.86% in the last one year (as of 03/24/2026). During this past 52-week period, the fund has traded between $37.51 and $52.32.

The fund has a beta of 0.54 and standard deviation of 13.93% for the trailing three-year period, which makes DEM a medium risk choice in this particular space. With about 542 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk .

Alternatives

WisdomTree Emerging Markets High Dividend ETF is a reasonable option for investors seeking to outperform the Broad Emerging Market ETFs segment of the market. However, there are other ETFs in the space which investors could 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 $109.42 billion in assets, iShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets ETF has $136.91 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 High Dividend ETF (DEM): ETF Research Reports

This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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