By Matthew Hougan

On Wednesday, WisdomTree (WSDT.PK) rolled out the first four currency exchange-traded funds resulting from its co-branding relationship with The Dreyfus Corporation.

The new funds include:

• The WisdomTree Dreyfus Chinese Yuan Fund (NYSE: CYB)
• The WisdomTree Dreyfus Indian Rupee Fund (NYSE: ICN)
• The WisdomTree Dreyfus Brazilian Real Fund (NYSE: BZF)
• The WisdomTree Dreyfus Euro Fund (NYSE: EU)

Although the ETFs are not money market funds in the traditional sense, their objective is to earn income that reflects the money market rates of their respective currencies. They will invest primarily in short-term, investment-grade debt and seek to maintain an average portfolio maturity of 60 days.

They are designed to give exposure to foreign currencies with potentially greater yield (and more unique currencies) than existing currency ETFs.

"We think there is a growing awareness among investors to view their holdings from a global viewpoint instead of just a dollar viewpoint. When investors do that, they frequently look for alternatives to the low yields and the depreciating purchasing power that they have seen with the dollar lately," said Bruce Lavine, WisdomTree's president and COO. "Investors can now have exposure to non-U.S. money market yields and their associated currency movements through a fully transparent, low-fee ETF structure."

Technically, the new funds are considered actively managed by the Securities & Exchange Commission. Although there are quite a few currency-related ETFs and exchange-traded notes listed in the U.S., these are the first actively managed ones.

EU charges an expense ratio of 0.35%; the other three funds charge 0.45%.

There's no surprise in the choice of currencies. China, India and Brazil are three of the four horsemen in the rise of emerging markets, while the Euro is front-of-mind for every investor these days.

A fifth fund, the WisdomTree Dreyfus Japanese Yen Fund (NYSE: JYF), is expected to launch on May 16 and will charge an expense ratio of 0.35%.

• Read the prospectus for the WisdomTree Dreyfus currency ETFs here
• More on choosing the right ETF

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