In many ways, WisdomTree is an outsider in the ETF industry. The bulk of ETF assets are currently invested in vanilla strategies, those which track cap-weighted or value-weighted indexes covering broad market strategies like U.S. large-cap equities or total-market fixed income. The firms that dominate these segments of the market are the big three listed above. In fact, of the more than $1.462 trillion invested in U.S.-listed ETFs, $1.212 trillion is invested in ETFs listed by BlackRock, SSGA or Vanguard.

WisdomTree is without a doubt aware of this. In response, the firm has carved out a niche for itself as a boutique issuer whose funds take a nuanced, more thematic approach to various asset classes. At the heart of this is its focus on dividends which has coincided with perhaps the most accommodating market for dividend-focused products. No fewer than 27 of its 34 equity strategies use some form of dividends as a weighting or selection mechanism.