WisdomTree Dividend ex-Financials Fund

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WisdomTree Dividend ex-Financials Fund – DTN (NYSE Arca Ticker)

 

SUMMARY PROSPECTUS – August 1, 2013

Before you invest in the Fund, as defined below, you may want to review the Fund’s prospectus and statement of additional information (“SAI”), which contain more information about the Fund and the risks of investing in the Fund. The Fund’s current prospectus and SAI are incorporated by reference into this summary prospectus. You can find the Fund’s prospectus and SAI, as well as other information about the Fund, online at www.wisdomtree.com/prospectus. You may also obtain this information at no charge by calling 1-866-909-9473 or by sending an e-mail request to getinfo@wisdomtree.com.

Investment Objective

The WisdomTree Dividend ex-Financials Fund (the “Fund”) seeks to track the price and yield performance, before fees and expenses, of the WisdomTree Dividend ex-Financials Index (the “Index”).

Fees and Expenses of the Fund

The following table describes the fees and expenses you may pay if you buy and hold shares of the Fund. The fees are expressed as a percentage of the Fund’s average net assets.

 

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

    0.38

Distribution and/or Service (12b-1) Fees

    None   

Other Expenses

    0.00
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses     0.38

Example

The following example is intended to help retail investors compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other funds. It illustrates the hypothetical expenses that such investors would incur over various periods if they were to invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated and then redeem all of the shares at the end of those periods. This example assumes that the Fund provides a return of 5% a year and that operating expenses remain the same. This example does not include the brokerage commission that retail investors may pay to buy and sell shares of the Fund. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions, your costs would be:

 

     1 Year     3 Years     5 Years     10 Years  
      $39        $122        $213        $480   

Portfolio Turnover

The Fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when Fund shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in annual fund operating expenses or in the example, affect the Fund’s performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 34% of the average value of its portfolio, excluding the value of portfolio securities received or delivered as a result of in-kind creations or redemptions of the Fund’s capital shares.

Principal Investment Strategies of the Fund

The Fund employs a “passive management” – or indexing – investment approach designed to track the performance of the Index. The Fund generally uses a representative sampling strategy to achieve its investment objective, meaning it generally will invest in a sample of the securities in the Index whose risk, return and other characteristics resemble the risk, return and other characteristics of the Index as a whole. Under normal circumstances, at least 95% of the Fund’s total assets (exclusive of

 

WisdomTree Trust Prospectus     1   


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collateral held from securities lending) will be invested in component securities of the Index and investments that have economic characteristics that are substantially identical to the economic characteristics of such component securities.

The Index is comprised of the 10 highest dividend-yielding companies in each sector, selected from the three hundred largest companies by market value in the WisdomTree Dividend Index (other than companies in the financial sector). Eligibility requirements include: (i) payment of regular cash dividends on shares of common stock in the 12 months preceding the annual Index rebalance; (ii) market capitalization of at least $100 million as of the Index rebalance; (iii) average daily trading volume of at least $100,000 for three months preceding the Index rebalance; and (iv) a calculated volume factor (the average daily trading volume for three months preceding the Index rebalance divided by the weight of the security in the Index) that is greater than $200 million. The Index is the only one of the WisdomTree U.S. Dividend Indexes that is not weighted by the dollar value of cash dividends to be paid. A component company’s weight in the Index is determined by dividing its indicated annual dividend yield by the sum of all the indicated annual dividend yields for all the component companies in the Index. The maximum weight of any one sector in the Index, at the time of the Index’s annual rebalance, is capped at 25%. In response to market conditions, sector weights may fluctuate above 25% between annual Index rebalance dates. In the event that a company has a calculated volume factor that is less than $400 million as of the annual Index rebalance, its weight in the Index will be reduced such that its weight equals its weight prior to the adjustment multiplied by a fraction of its calculated volume factor divided by $400 million.

WisdomTree Investments, Inc. (“WisdomTree Investments”), as index provider, currently uses Standard & Poor’s Global Industry Classification Standards (“S&P GICS”) to define companies within a sector. The following sectors are included in the Index: consumer discretionary, consumer staples, energy, health care, industrials, information technology, materials, telecommunication services, and utilities. A sector is comprised of multiple industries. For example, the energy sector is comprised of companies in, among others, the natural gas, oil and petroleum industries.

To the extent that the Index concentrates (i.e., holds 25% or more of its total assets) in the securities of a particular industry or group of industries, the Fund will concentrate its investments to approximately the same extent as its Index.

Principal Risks of Investing in the Fund

You can lose money on your investment in the Fund. The Fund is subject to the risks described below. Some or all of these risks may adversely affect the Fund’s net asset value per share (“NAV”), trading price, yield, total return and/or ability to meet its objectives. For more information about the risks of investing in the Fund, see the section in the Fund’s Prospectus titled “Additional Investment Objective, Strategy and Risk Information.”

 

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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.

 

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Market Risk. The trading prices of equity securities and other instruments fluctuate in response to a variety of factors. 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.

 

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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.

 

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Investment Style Risk. The Fund invests in the securities included in, or representative of, its Index regardless of their investment merit. The Fund does not attempt to outperform its 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 its Index.

 

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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.

 

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Large-Capitalization Investing. 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-

 

WisdomTree Trust Prospectus   2


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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.

 

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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.

 

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Non-Diversification Risk. Although the Fund intends to invest in a variety of securities and instruments, the Fund will be 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. As a result, the Fund may be more exposed to the risks associated with and developments affecting an individual issuer or a smaller number of issuers than a fund that invests more widely. This may increase the Fund’s volatility and cause the performance of a relatively smaller number of issuers to have a greater impact on the Fund’s performance.

 

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Utilities Investing. The Fund may invest in companies in the utilities sector of the market and, as such, is sensitive to risks to the utilities sector. These risks include, but are not limited to, changing commodity prices, government regulation stipulating rates charged by utilities, interest rate sensitivity, and the cost of providing the specific utility service.

Fund Performance

Historical Fund performance, which varies over time, can provide an indication of the risks of investing in the Fund. The bar chart that follows shows the annual total returns of the Fund for each full calendar year since the Fund commenced operations. The table that follows the bar chart shows the Fund’s average annual total returns, both before and after taxes. This table also shows how the Fund’s performance compares to the Index and that of a relevant broad-based securities index. Index returns do not reflect deductions for fees, expenses or taxes. All returns assume reinvestment of dividends and distributions. The Fund’s past performance (before and after taxes) is not necessarily an indication of how the Fund will perform in the future.

The Fund’s name and objective changed effective May 7, 2009. Fund performance prior to May 7, 2009 reflects the investment objective and style of the Fund when it was the WisdomTree Dividend Top 100 Fund, and tracked the performance of the WisdomTree Dividend Top 100 Index.

 

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The Fund’s year-to-date total return as of June 30, 2013 was 13.88%.

Best and Worst Quarter Returns (for the periods reflected in the bar chart above)

 

     Return     Quarter/Year  

Highest Return

    24.77     2Q/2009   

Lowest Return

    (24.23 )%      4Q/2008   

After-tax returns are calculated using the highest historical individual federal marginal income tax rates and do not reflect the impact of state and local taxes. Actual after-tax returns depend on your tax situation and may differ from those shown and are not relevant if you hold your shares through tax-deferred arrangements, such as 401(k) plans or individual retirement accounts. In some cases the return after taxes may exceed the return before taxes due to an assumed tax benefit from any losses on a sale of Fund shares at the end of the measurement period.

 

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Average Annual Total Returns for the periods ending December 31, 2012

 

WisdomTree Dividend ex-Financials Fund*   1 Year     5 Years    

Since Inception

(6/16/2006)

 

Return Before Taxes Based on NAV

    11.80     3.95     5.52

Return After Taxes on Distributions

    10.09     2.46     4.13

Return After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Fund Shares

    7.63     2.42     3.88

Dow Jones U.S. Select Dividend IndexSM (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses, or taxes)

    10.84     2.49     3.27

WisdomTree Dividend Top 100/Dividend ex-Financials Spliced Index** (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses, or taxes)

    12.07     4.38     5.90
*   The Fund’s objective changed effective May 7, 2009. Prior to that date, the Fund sought to track the price and yield performance, before fees and expenses, of the WisdomTree Dividend Top 100 Index. After May 7, 2009, the Fund’s objective seeks to track the price and yield performance, before fees and expenses, of the WisdomTree Dividend ex-Financials Index.
**   Reflects performance of the WisdomTree Dividend Top 100 Index through May 7, 2009 and the WisdomTree Dividend ex-Financials Index thereafter.

Management

Investment Adviser and Sub-Adviser

WisdomTree Asset Management, Inc. serves as investment adviser to the Fund. Mellon Capital Management Corporation serves as sub-adviser to the Fund.

Portfolio Managers

Karen Q. Wong, CFA, a Managing Director, Head of Equity Portfolio Management, has been a portfolio manager of the Fund since February 2008.

Richard A. Brown, CFA, a Director, Senior Portfolio Manager, has been a portfolio manager of the Fund since February 2008.

Thomas J. Durante, CFA, a Director, Senior Portfolio Manager, has been a portfolio manager of the Fund since February 2008.

Buying and Selling Fund Shares

The Fund is an ETF. This means that shares of the Fund are listed on a national securities exchange, such as NYSE Arca, and trade at market prices. Most investors will buy and sell shares of the Fund through brokers. Because Fund shares trade at market prices rather than NAV, shares may trade at a price greater than NAV (premium) or less than NAV (discount).

The Fund issues and redeems shares at NAV only in large blocks of shares (“Creation Units”), which only certain institutions or large investors (typically market makers or other broker-dealers) may purchase or redeem. Currently, Creation Units generally consist of 50,000 shares, though this may change from time to time. Creation Units are not expected to consist of less than 50,000 shares. The Fund generally issues and redeems Creation Units in exchange for a portfolio of securities closely approximating the holdings of the Fund and/or a designated amount of U.S. cash.

Payments to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries

If you purchase shares of the Fund through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a bank) (an “Intermediary”), WisdomTree Asset Management or its affiliates may pay Intermediaries for certain activities related to the Fund, including participation in activities that are designed to make Intermediaries more knowledgeable about exchange traded products, including the Fund, or for other activities, such as marketing, educational training or other initiatives related to the sale or promotion of Fund shares. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the Intermediary and your salesperson to recommend the Fund over another investment. Any such arrangements do not result in increased Fund expenses. Ask your salesperson or visit the Intermediary’s website for more information.

Tax Information

The Fund intends to make distributions that may be taxed as ordinary income, qualified dividend income, or capital gains.

 

WisdomTree Trust Prospectus   4   WIS-DTN-SUM-08/13