EEMA vs XCEM

EEMABiShares MSCI Emerging Markets Asia ETF

XCEMAColumbia EM Core ex-China ETF

In short

EEMA Emerging markets, minus the detour. EEMA owns the Asian engine room (China, Taiwan, Korea, India) and skips Latin America and EMEA entirely, spread across roughly 900 large- and mid-cap names with caps on the giants.

XCEM The original ex-China emerging markets fund. Columbia launched XCEM in 2015, back when carving China out of an EM sleeve was a fringe idea rather than a crowded shelf. Roughly 150 EM stocks, no China, 0.16% a year.

Stated mandate

EEMA The fund seeks to track an index of large- and mid-cap equities from emerging Asian countries, providing diversified exposure to Asian emerging-market equities.

XCEM The fund seeks investment results that correspond to the performance of the EGAI Emerging Markets ex-China Index before fees and expenses. It generally invests at least 80% of net assets in index companies and seeks to replicate the index.

Why people hold it

• EEMA Pure emerging Asia: the index covers only EM Asian countries, so Taiwan, China, Korea and India carry the fund without Brazil or Saudi Arabia riding along.ishares.com
• The MSCI EM Asia Custom Capped Index limits any single issuer to 25% and all 5%-plus names to 25% combined, so one mega-cap chipmaker cannot quietly become the whole fund.mutualfunds.com
• Running since 2012 and holding roughly 900 large- and mid-cap stocks, it hews closely to the mandate on the tin and sits in the upper half of its emerging-markets peer group.

• XCEM Launched in 2015 as the first broad emerging markets ETF built to leave China out, and it has since grown into a billion-dollar-plus fund.morningstar.com
• 0.16% a year, well under the typical fund in its emerging markets cohort, for a portfolio of about 150 stocks.
• Plain mandate, closely followed: at least 80% of net assets in index companies, replicated rather than approximated, with tracking that has stayed tight.
• One of the strongest implementations in its emerging markets peer group, and liquid enough that getting in and out is rarely the hard part.

Worth knowing

• EEMA The 0.49% fee lands at the median for emerging-markets funds, while broad EM trackers like VEXC (0.07%) and BKEM (0.11%) charge a fraction of that.
• Asia-only means China and Taiwan do the heavy lifting. Peers such as XCEM and VEXC strip China out; this one leans in.
• Mid-sized and moderately traded rather than a mega-fund, so spreads can run wider than on the largest EM ETFs. It also distributes infrequently, not monthly.

• XCEM No China means no Tencent, no Alibaba, no A-shares. If that exposure belongs in the portfolio, it has to come from somewhere else.
• Emerging market stocks swing hard and currency moves add to the ride. This is one of the higher-volatility corners of equity investing.
• Cheap, not cheapest: VEXC runs the same ex-China EM idea at 0.07%. XCEM's edge is a decade of history, not the lowest fee on the shelf.

Full EEMA profile⁠

Full XCEM profile⁠