WisdomTree U.S. SmallCap Dividend Fund
$38.56+0.28 (+0.73%)
- 0.38%
- $2.1B
- +21.4%
- 2.37%
- 0.1M sh
- $38.22
- low $31.75high $41.85
The ETF.net DES Grade
B
Score 60 out of 100
- 23 of 53
Score 60 of 100 falls in the B band. A is 70 or higher, B 55 to under 70, C 40 to under 55, D 25 to under 40, F under 25.
Cost
The fund’s net expense ratio, ranked against its category.C52 out of 100Rank 24 of 53Mission
Whether the fund did what it promised, tested against its stated mandate.A84 out of 100Rank 27 of 50Risk
How the fund held up when markets fell: downside volatility, drawdowns and tail loss.F24 out of 100Rank 47 of 53Tradability
How easy the fund is to trade: daily volume, and how far its price strays from net asset value.B56 out of 100Rank 20 of 53Holdings
How concentrated the fund is, and how complete and current its disclosed holdings are.A86 out of 100Rank 2 of 53Durability
Whether the fund is likely to stay open, judged by its age, its assets and its issuer’s assets.A71 out of 100Rank 13 of 53
Our read on DES
BMost dividend ETFs crowd into the same mega-cap payers. DES points the dividend screen at the other end of the market: small U.S. companies that actually write checks, on a WisdomTree index running since 2006.
The fund seeks to track dividend-paying small-cap companies in the U.S. equity market.
Why people hold it
- Rare mandate: a dividend screen aimed at U.S. small caps rather than the mega-cap payer roster nearly every rival dividend fund owns.
- Launched in 2006, one of the older dividend ETFs still running, and now a multi-billion-dollar fund with a long unbroken record through several market cycles.
- Pays monthly, not the quarterly cadence most dividend funds stick to.
- Spread across about 600 names, so one small-cap blowup does not steer the whole portfolio. Diversification is among the stronger features here.
Worth knowing
- 0.38% a year sits right around the middle of the dividend-screen crowd, and large-cap options like SCHD (0.06%) and VIG (0.04%) charge a fraction of it.
- Small-cap payers move harder than blue chips, so this is the bumpier corner of the dividend aisle.
- Volume is moderate rather than heavy, so bid-ask spreads can run wider than in the biggest dividend ETFs.
DES Holdings
- Stocks
- 512
- 10%
- PBF
Sectors
- Financials26.0%
- Consumer Discretionary15.5%
- Industrials13.7%
- Energy10.7%
- Real Estate9.5%
- Technology6.2%
- Materials6.0%
- Utilities4.2%
- Consumer Staples3.3%
- Communication2.7%
- Health Care2.2%
Geography
- United States99.35%
- Singapore0.47%
- Puerto Rico0.18%
DES Performance
Shows how $10,000 changes over the selected period, with cash distributions reinvested at the closing price on each ex-dividend date.
DES$12,138
Returns run to the Oct 12, 2026 close, with cash distributions reinvested. Each period starts on the same date that many months or years earlier. Periods over one year show the average yearly return.
| Period | DES |
|---|---|
| Year to date | +16.2% |
| 1 month | −3.4% |
| 3 months | −4.1% |
| 1 year | +21.4% |
| 3 years | +14.3% |
| 5 years | +6.7% |
| 10 years | +7.5% |
Calendar-year total return with cash distributions hypothetically reinvested at the ex-dividend date’s closing price. The current year shows year to date.
| Year | Return bar | DES |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 YTD | +16.2% | |
| 2025 | +0.3% | |
| 2024 | +9.7% | |
| 2023 | +15.9% | |
| 2022 | −11.0% | |
| 2021 | +26.5% | |
| 2020 | −4.3% |
DES in the news
Best ETFs
Schwab's dividend ETF returned 22.8% in a year. Its income rate still trails a one-month bill.
First-Year Review
Liberty One's Spectrum ETF returned 6.4%, 8.9 percentage points behind an S&P 500 fund
Category Review
The payout and the result came apart in option-income funds
First-Year Review
EASY's first year trailed the defensive index it names
DES Dividends
- 2.37%
- $0.91
- $0.12 per share
- Monthly
Distribution history
DES Risk
- 17.6%
How it’s calculated: standard deviation
The sample standard deviation of monthly total returns, multiplied by the square root of 12.
Uses up to 36 complete months, with at least 12 required. Total returns include reinvested distributions.
- 0.53
How it’s calculated: Sharpe ratio
Subtract each month’s Treasury-bill return from the fund’s monthly total return.
Divide the average of those excess returns by their sample standard deviation, then multiply by the square root of 12.
Uses up to 36 complete months, with at least 12 required. Each month uses the Treasury yield quoted at the end of the previous month.
- −25.3%
How it’s calculated: maximum drawdown
The largest percentage decline from an earlier peak, using total returns with reinvested distributions.
Uses up to five years through the last close, with at least 12 months required.
- 0.91
How it’s calculated: beta
The beta figure is supplied by FMP. The comparison index depends on the fund’s broad asset class.
DES Cost
0.38%
DES0.38%
- The middle half of US Dividend Index funds
- Median 0.38%
23 of the 52 US Dividend Index funds charge less.
Other funds in US Dividend Index
- BSPDVAAM S&P 500 High Dividend Value ETFExpense ratio 0.29%1 year return +22.2%
- BCDLVictoryShares US Large Cap High Div Volatility Wtd ETFExpense ratio 0.39%1 year return +16.2%
- BQDIVGlobal X - S&P 500 Quality Dividend ETFExpense ratio 0.20%1 year return +19.3%
- BDIVGInvesco S&P 500 High Dividend Growers ETFExpense ratio 0.39%1 year return +18.6%
- CPFMInvesco Dividend Achievers ETFExpense ratio 0.52%1 year return +14.5%