Global exchange-traded fund provider WisdomTree has announced that assets under management (AUM) in its European-listed ETFs and exchange-traded products has surpassed $1bn. The provider, who entered Europe in April 2014 through its acquisition of Boost ETP, has benefited from net inflows year-to-date of $220m.
David Abner, currently WisdomTree’s head of capital markets, will move to London in August to lead WisdomTree Europe.
David Abner, recently appointed to lead the WisdomTree business in Europe, said in a statement: “Reaching $1bn in AUM is a major milestone and we are pleased to see growth across our product range demonstrating the broad appeal of our diversified offerings across smart beta UCITS ETFs and ETPs in commodities, equities and fixed income. We now have a breadth of products suitable for both strategic portfolio allocations and more tactical trading tools.”
WisdomTree lists 26 UCITS ETFs and 144 Boost-branded ETPs across the Borsa Italiana, London Stock Exchange, Xetra, SIX Swiss Exchange and Irish Stock Exchange.
WisdomTree notes that the Boost Oil ETPs have proved particularly popular with investors, with over $4.1bn of turnover and AUM growing by 37%, over the course of the year. Similarly, the WisdomTree European Equity UCITS ETF- Hedged (HEDJ), which provides exposure to export-oriented eurozone equities whilst providing a US dollar or euro currency hedge and the WisdomTree Europe Equity SmallCap Dividend UCITS ETF (DFE), which provides access to European small-cap high income equities, have also proved popular with investors, with inflows of $122m and $54m this year, respectively. Both ETFs seek to outperform a market cap-weighted approach by weighting constituents according to dividends paid over the past year.
Abner added: “WisdomTree is deeply committed to the European market and continues to make investments to better serve this fast-growing ETF landscape… Since the beginning of the year we have added to our sales coverage and registered products in the Netherlands, France, Sweden and Finland, adding to our existing dedicated coverage of the UK, Italy, Germany and Switzerland.”
Nizam Hamid, ETF Strategist at WisdomTree Europe, said in a statement: “Many of our proprietary indices, upon which our ETFs are based, first launched in 2006 and 2007. We believe these long track records are an increasingly valuable characteristic for investors looking at smart beta strategies. This has been especially evident in the current market environment where the strengths of our alternatively weighted strategies have, in many cases, delivered outperformance, and often with lower volatility, relative to traditional market cap weighted indices.”
Most recently, the company launched the WisdomTree US Quality Dividend Growth UCITS ETF (DGRA) and WisdomTree Global Quality Dividend Growth UCITS ETF (GGRA) on the London Stock Exchange. The ETFs target dividend-paying companies that have strong fundamental metrics and future dividend growth potential. (See “WisdomTree launches quality dividend growth ETFs on LSE”).