Daily ETF Watch: New Japan Payout Fund

WisdomTree is taking a stab at dividends in Japan.

WisdomTree has put into registration a Japan-focused dividend growth fund, dubbed the WisdomTree Japan Dividend Growth Fund, at a time when equity securities in Japan are under pressure from a slowdown in China and tensions between Russia and Ukraine.

Last year, the Nikkei 225 Index was the world’s best-performing index surging to some 57 percent. This year? Not so much. The index has fallen from grace and has recorded losses of some 9.2 percent year-to-date, making it the worst-performing index globally.

The WisdomTree Japan Dividend Growth Fund will track the WisdomTree Japan Dividend Growth Index, a fundamentally weighted index that generally comprises the 300 companies with the best combined rank of certain growth and quality factors, including long-term earnings growth expectations, return on equity, and return on assets, according to the filing.

Associated tickers and fees for the proposed ETF were not made available in the filing.

Filing

• Deutsche Bank, the first ETF issuer to reach the market with an ETF that can invest directly in Chinese securities, has signaled that the launch of its recently proposed China A-shares sector funds is just around the corner. This new group will give investors even more access to the last major niche market that has yet to be tapped fully by global investors.

DB’s latest offerings include:

• db X-trackers Harvest China A-Shares Small Cap Fund (ASHS)
• db X-trackers Harvest China A-Shares Industrial Sector Fund (ASHI)
• db X-trackers Harvest China A-Shares Technology Sector Fund (ASHK)
• db X-trackers Harvest China A-Shares Materials Sector Fund (ASHB)
• db X-trackers Harvest China A-Shares Health Care Sector Fund (ASHV)
• db X-trackers Harvest China A-Shares Financial Sector Fund (ASHF)
• db X-trackers Harvest China A-Shares Consumer Staples Sector Fund (ASHP)
• db X-trackers Harvest China A-Shares Consumer Discretionary Sector Fund (ASHY)