WisdomTree Emerging Currency ETF 'Fills Void in ETF Landscape'

WisdomTree (WSDT.PK) and the Dreyfus Corporation, part of BNY Mellon Asset Management, announced today through a press release (.pdf) the listing of the WisdomTree Dreyfus Emerging Currency Fund (CEW) on the NYSE Arca with an expense ratio of 0.55%.

Bruce Lavine, WisdomTree President & COO commented,

“Our new Emerging Currency fund fills an important void in the ETF landscape by giving investors the first currency basket product delivered in the 1940 Act fund structure. CEW should be attractive to investors interested in diversifying outside the U.S. Dollar or accessing a less correlated asset class.

“The ETF provides investors exposure to both money market rates across 11 Emerging Market countries, as well as movements in these currencies relative to the U.S. Dollar. Our clients asked us for a basket strategy to complement our individual country currency income funds and we are happy to deliver that today.”

Constituent currencies at launch: Mexican Peso, Brazilian Real, Chilean Peso, South African Rand, Polish Zloty, Israeli Shekel, Turkish New Lira, Chinese Yuan, South Korean Won, Taiwanese Dollar, and Indian Rupee.

Although the Fund invests in very short-term, investment grade instruments, the Fund is not a "money market" fund and it is not the objective of the Fund to maintain a constant share price.

• More on choosing the right ETF

Comments

[Geoffrey Lordi:]

I've been in touch with WisdomTree's product folks: there's no fact sheet PDF yet available that details holdings weights/proportions. They described the timing of one's availability as "uncertain" (as of 05.06.09), but want us to check back frequently: www.wisdomtree.com/etf...

May 06 05:14 PM

[Mad Hedge F...:]

ProShares has filed for 94 funds, which offer traders 300% long or short plays in markets as diverse as the Russell 1000 Index, the MSCI Malaysia Index, and the Nikkei 225 stock average. Direxion has gathered $3.4 billion with 16 different 3X funds launched since November. There are now more than 800 ETF’s, and I have been a big fan of those for emerging markets (EEM) and short Treasuries (TBT), which allow investors to take positions in niche sectors and foreign markets which are otherwise difficult or expensive to get into. These also allow mutual funds the only means to go short, and include tax advantages and hedging opportunities. But the leveraged versions include risks that most buyers don’t fully understand, even if they parse through the voluminous prospecti with a magnifying class. They promise their triple tracking only for the day you buy it. Beyond that, the tracking error can be huge. The mechanics of these funds force them to be buyers of every rally and sellers of every dip. Over time, leveraged short funds can actually suffer large losses, even in falling markets, and vice versa. It is just a matter of time before one of these goes to zero, wiping out investors. They are already being blamed for an increase in market volatility in the last hour of trading. Gaming sector ETF’s has become the new blood sport for nimble hedge funds. You can expect a replay of a movie you’ve seen before. At the first sign of trouble, liquidity will disappear, auditors will mark them down to nothing, and suddenly the whole world will be for sale. Sound familiar? You have been warned!

May 06 05:26 PM

[Alan Young:]

Geoff, the PR from Wisdom Tree said the basket would be equally-weighted and rebalanced monthly.

May 06 06:42 PM