WisdomTree Investments

WisdomTree Responds to Kauffman Foundation’s Criticism of ETFs

Thursday 11 November 2010

 

Open Letter Refutes Inaccurate Claims and Misconceptions Encourages Fact-based Analysis of Wide-ranging Generalizations

 

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)—November 11, 2010 -- WisdomTree (Pink Sheets: WSDT - News), an exchange-traded fund (“ETF”) sponsor and asset manager, announced today an open letter responding to a critical ETF industry analysis from the Kauffman Foundation. The open letter from ETF industry pioneer and WisdomTree President Bruce Lavine is available here or at www.wisdomtree.com.

 

“We believe the Kauffman Foundation’s report reflects a serious misunderstanding of the structure and operation of ETFs and is perpetuating a series of misconceptions in the mainstream media,” said Bruce Lavine, WisdomTree President & COO. “We found the primary conclusion of the report, namely that ETFs might collapse because of the ability to short them, to be completely groundless.”

 

Mr. Lavine continued, “We believe it is important for investors to understand the ETF structure so that their options are not limited to structures with higher fees, less liquidity, less tax efficiency, less transparency and less overall flexibility. To that end, we encourage industry participants to view our letter and contact WisdomTree for more information.”

 

About WisdomTree

 

WisdomTree® is an exchange-traded fund (“ETF”) sponsor and asset manager using its own fundamentally weighted index methodology. WisdomTree also licenses its indexes to third parties for proprietary products and offers a platform to promote the use of WisdomTree ETFs in 401(k) plans. Approximately $10 billion in assets currently are managed by WisdomTree or are managed against WisdomTree Indexes. For more information, please visit www.wisdomtree.com. WisdomTree is the marketing name for WisdomTree Investments, Inc. and its wholly owned subsidiaries WisdomTree Asset Management, Inc. and WisdomTree Retirement Services, Inc.

 

WisdomTree Asset Management, Inc. is a registered investment advisor and is the investment advisor to the WisdomTree Trust and the WisdomTree ETFs. The WisdomTree Trust is a registered open-end investment company. Each WisdomTree ETF is a series of the WisdomTree Trust. WisdomTree Retirement Services, Inc. supports the use of the WisdomTree ETFs in retirement plans by financial professionals.

 

There are risks associated with investing including possible loss of principal. Please read the Fund’s prospectus for specific details regarding the Fund’s risk profile. To obtain a prospectus containing this and other important information visit wisdomtree.com. Read the prospectus carefully before you invest.

 

WisdomTree Funds are distributed by ALPS Distributors, Inc.

Bruce Lavine is a registered representative of ALPS Distributors, Inc.

Contact:

 

Media Contact:

Stuart Bell

WisdomTree Investments, Inc.

(917) 267-3702

sbell@wisdomtree.com

 

or

 

WisdomTree Investor Relations Contacts:

KCSA Strategic Communications

Jeffrey Goldberger / Todd Fromer

(212) 896-1249 / (212) 896-1215

jgoldberger@kcsa.com / tfromer@kcsa.com