WisdomTree: No Cap Gains on Equity ETFs

WisdomTree WETF, the sixth-largest U.S. ETF sponsor, said today that it expects to deliver no short- or long-term capital gains distributions on any of its 35 equity-based ETFs this year. Distributions are paid to investors from the capital gains of the firm's investment portfolio. For example, when a mutual fund manager turns a profit on a trade and closes the position, the fund's shareholders, not the sponsor, are saddled with the tax liability. Most ETFs do not distribute capital gains to investors, which makes the asset class typically more tax efficient than mutual funds. "We are happy to report zero capital gains distributions across our entire family of equity ETFs. We are proud of the track record we are building, offering the benefit of tax efficiency through our ETFs," said WisdomTree CEO and President Jonathan Steinberg in a statement. Earlier this month, iShares, the world's largest ETF sponsor, said 98 percent of its total ETF lineup will not have 2012 capital gains distributions. Last week, Van Eck's Market Vectors unit, the fifth-largest U.S. ETF sponsor, announced that just five of its 50 ETFs will make long-term capital gains distributions to investors this year. New York-based WisdomTree also sponsors seven currency ETFs, five bond funds and two ETFs focused on alternative strategies. The statement did not mention those ETFs. For more on ETFs, click here.