WisdomTree launches small-cap dividend growth ETF Thu Jul 25, 2013 1:52pm EDT (Reuters) - WisdomTree Investments Inc (WETF.O), one of the largest providers of exchange-traded funds, has listed a new ETF it hopes will capture dividend growth through U.S. small-cap stocks. The New York-based asset manager said on Thursday its new WisdomTree U.S. SmallCap Dividend Growth Fund DGRS.O was designed to offer exposure to small-cap growth stocks that may be better-positioned for a rising interest rate environment and improving U.S. economy as opposed to large-cap stocks, which are more globally sensitive. "They're entering a fairly crowded market," said Dave Nadig, president of San Francisco-based IndexUniverse LLC's ETF Analytics. He noted that the new WisdomTree ETF slots "right into the middle of other small-cap value funds" that have performed well so far in 2013. The Vanguard Small Cap Value ETF (VBR.P), for example, is up 22.7 percent year-to-date, while the iShares Morningstar Small-Cap Value ETF (JKL.P) is up 21.7 percent year-to-date. ETFs track a basket of shares, bonds or commodities and can be traded in real time on exchanges like stocks. They offer access to indexes without having to buy the individual underlying securities. Unlike the Vanguard and iShares ETFs, which are heavy in financials, the new WisdomTree ETF is weighted mostly in industrials and consumer discretionary sectors. Reporting by Ashley Lau in New York; editing by Matthew Lewis