BKEM vs GSEE

BKEMABNY Mellon Emerging Markets Equity ETF

GSEEBGoldman Sachs MarketBeta Emerging Markets Equity ETF

In short

BKEM The whole emerging world, priced like an afterthought. BNY Mellon charges 0.11% to hold well over a thousand large- and mid-cap stocks across developing markets. Broad, cheap, and very quiet.

GSEE The emerging-markets leg of Goldman's plain-vanilla MarketBeta lineup: roughly 1,800 large and mid caps tracking a Solactive benchmark, China and all, at a fee below the category median.

Stated mandate

BKEM The fund is designed to follow the performance of an emerging-markets large- and mid-cap equity index.

GSEE The Fund seeks to track, before fees and expenses, the performance of the Solactive GBS Emerging Markets Large & Mid Cap Index.

Why people hold it

• BKEM 0.11% a year puts it near the bottom of the emerging-markets fee shelf, well under what the typical fund in the category charges.
• Roughly 1,800 holdings, so you own the mid-cap tail of emerging markets, not just the handful of mega-caps that dominate the better-known indexes.
• Buys the full emerging-markets basket rather than carving out China the way top-rated peers XCEM and VEXC do. One allocation decision you do not have to make.
• Plain indexing, run the same way since the 2020 launch: it hews closely to its Solactive benchmark instead of drifting off-mandate.

• GSEE Costs 0.36% net of a waiver through December 29, 2026 (0.45% gross), below the median fee among the emerging-markets funds measured in its category.gsam.com
• Roughly 1,800 stocks. The index is built to capture about the largest 85% of emerging-market free float, so you hold the asset class rather than a curated slice of it.solactive.com
• Passive index tracking is the whole mandate: no factor tilts, no screens, no active overlay. Measured against what the prospectus promises, it has stayed tight to the brief.
• Keeps China in the mix, unlike ex-China rivals VEXC and XCEM that rank near the top of this category. One ticket for the full emerging-markets map.

Worth knowing

• BKEM Thinly traded. Spreads can widen, so order size and timing matter more here than with the category's household names.
• A small fund next to the emerging-markets giants, which is worth knowing if scale and deep secondary-market liquidity are on your checklist.
• Emerging-markets equity carries currency and single-country political swings; 1,800 names spread that around but do not erase it. Distributions come quarterly.

• GSEE A small fund that trades thinly, so spreads and limit orders matter more here than with the category's household names.
• Cheaper rivals exist: BKEM charges 0.11% for broad emerging markets, VEXC 0.07% for an ex-China build, and neither leans on a waiver.
• That 0.36% rests on a waiver scheduled to lapse December 29, 2026; the gross expense ratio underneath it is 0.45%.

Full BKEM profile⁠

Full GSEE profile⁠