EMB vs PCY: Grades, Fees and Holdings Compared

iShares J.P. Morgan USD Emerging Markets Bond ETF

EMBANasdaq

Invesco Emerging Markets Sovereign Debt ETF

PCYBNYSE Arca

Overlap

No data

Expense ratio

EMB −0.11pt a year

EMB0.39%PCY0.50%

Avg volume · 30D

EMB 19.2×the volume

EMB6.87MPCY357K

10Y return · a year

EMB +0.8pt

EMB+2.7%PCY+1.9%

EMB vs PCY Performance

Nov 2, 2021 – Nov 2, 2026

+8.1%EMB+4.9%PCY

Expense ratio: EMB 0.39%, better; PCY 0.50%
Fund size: EMB $13.6B; PCY $1.17B
1Y total return: EMB +0.4%, better; PCY −1.5%
Yield (12M): EMB 5.81%; PCY 6.24%, better
Holdings: EMB 621; PCY 105
Avg volume (30D): EMB 6.87M sh, better; PCY 357K sh
NAV per share: EMB $91.92; PCY $20.35
52W range

ETF.net Grade

Pillar letters and Scores for EMB, PCY, with each pillar’s weight
Pillar	EMB	PCY
Cost30% weight	B59Higher	D28
Mission25% weight	A100Higher	A93
Risk15% weight	C53Higher	D27
Tradability15% weight	A91Higher	A82
Holdings10% weight	A85Higher	B65
Durability5% weight	A94Higher	A82

Rank among Emerging Markets Bonds (US Dollar) funds

How we build Categories ›

Same Category. EMB and PCY are both graded against the same 17 Emerging Markets Bonds (US Dollar) funds, so their Grades compare head to head.

Emerging Markets Bonds (US Dollar)⁠

Category · 17 funds

See all 17 ›

EMB ranks 3rd and PCY 10th of 17 funds in the Emerging Markets Bonds (US Dollar) Category.

Rank 1AVWOBVanguard Emerging Markets Government Bond ETFScore 86
Rank 2AXEMDBondBloxx JP Morgan USD Emerging Markets 1-10 Year Bond ETFScore 83
Rank 3AEMBiShares J.P. Morgan USD Emerging Markets Bond ETFScore 77
Rank 4ABEMBiShares J.P. Morgan Broad USD Emerging Markets Bond ETFScore 75
Rank 9BCEMBiShares J.P. Morgan EM Corporate Bond ETFScore 59
Rank 10BPCYInvesco Emerging Markets Sovereign Debt ETFScore 58
Rank 11CBREMiShares Emerging Markets Bond Active ETFScore 51

Our read on each fund

ETF.net Research

EMBAiShares J.P. Morgan USD Emerging Markets Bond ETF

PCYBInvesco Emerging Markets Sovereign Debt ETF

In short

EMB Emerging markets without the currency guesswork: EMB owns dollar-denominated EM debt, tracking J.P. Morgan's index since 2007. Roughly 600 bonds, income paid monthly.

PCY Emerging market government bonds, all issued in dollars, drawn from 20-plus countries under a "balanced" index that aims to weight them equally rather than hand the biggest slice to the biggest borrower. Trading since 2007, pays monthly.

Stated mandate

EMB The fund seeks to follow an index made up of U.S.-dollar-denominated bonds issued in emerging markets.

PCY The fund seeks to track the DBIQ Emerging Market USD Liquid Balanced Index, which represents liquid U.S.-dollar-denominated government bonds from emerging markets. It normally invests at least 80% of assets in index securities.

Why people hold it

EMB Dollar-denominated by mandate. The bonds are issued in USD, so local currency moves don't pass straight through to what the fund collects.ishares.com
About 600 bonds across emerging market borrowers, one of the broadest baskets in its peer group.
A multi-billion-dollar fund running since 2007 and one of the most actively traded ways to get this exposure, which tends to show up as tighter spreads at retail size.
Distributions land monthly rather than quarterly.

PCY The index spreads across more than 20 emerging market countries and aims to weight holdings equally, so the heaviest borrowers do not automatically get the heaviest weight.invesco.com bloomberg.com
Countries are reselected annually and the portfolio is rebalanced quarterly, which keeps the mix from drifting toward whichever government issued the most paper.invesco.com
Dollar-denominated bonds only, so local currency moves are not the driver. About 100 holdings, distributions monthly.
A multi-billion-dollar fund that has been running since 2007 and tracks its index closely.

Worth knowing

EMB Costs 0.39% a year, above its cohort's 0.19% median and well above plain EM stock index funds like VWO and SCHE at 0.06%.
It's a bond fund sitting in a mostly-stock peer group. What drives it is emerging market credit and interest rates, not company earnings.
The USD-only screen skips local-currency emerging market government debt, so that slice of the market, and its currency swings, is left out.ishares.com

PCY Costs 0.50% a year, above cohort peers JPMB and EMBD at 0.39%.
Emerging market sovereign debt is a volatile corner of the bond market: credit downgrades, default scares and rate moves all land in the price.
Equal weighting cuts both ways. A smaller, shakier issuer can sit alongside the sturdiest ones at a similar size.bloomberg.com

Full EMB profile⁠

Full PCY profile⁠

EMB vs PCY Holdings

How EMB and PCY differ

No overlap figure

Two bond funds rarely hold the same issues.

Level by level

Countryby domicile80.1%
Asset classFixed Income100%

Sector

No Sector split for PCY.

Country, concentration and asset class

Country by domicile

Country weights in EMB and PCY, widest gap first
Country	More in EMBMore in PCY	EMB	PCY
Saudi Arabia	PCY +19.9 points	55.7%	75.6%
Mexico	EMB +4.2 points	7.0%	2.8%
Argentina	EMB +3.4 points	3.4%	0.0%
Poland	EMB +2.6 points	4.1%	1.5%
Malaysia	EMB +2.3 points	2.3%	0.0%
Indonesia	EMB +2.0 points	4.8%	2.8%
Brazil	EMB +1.3 points	4.3%	3.0%
Philippines	EMB +1.1 points	3.9%	2.8%
Other countries (4)	EMB +3.0 points	14.6%	11.6%

Outside the US: EMB 0% developed, 100% emerging. PCY 0% developed, 100% emerging.

Concentration

Weight in the 10 largest Holdings

EMB6.1%
PCY11.9%

Securities held

EMB618
PCY102

Asset class

EMB: Fixed Income
PCY: Fixed Income

Holdings

Two bond funds rarely hold the same issues, so this page lists no shared Holdings. EMB holds 618 securities, PCY 102.

All 621 EMB holdings⁠All 102 PCY holdings⁠

How we measure overlap

Each holding counts at its smaller weight in the two funds, summed over the full Holdings. Sector, country and asset class use the same rule on each fund’s split. Cash, FX and derivative lines stay out of the counts. Two bond funds get no overlap figure.

EMB vs PCY Cost

Overpaying PCY vs EMB

$2,081

On $10,000 over 30 years. 7% growth a year before fees, expense ratio only.

EMB 0.39%
$7,898
PCY 0.50%
$9,979

Amount$10,000

Years30 years

Cost over time

EMB 0.39%
PCY 0.50%
Overpaying

Year by year

Year	EMB	PCY	Overpaying
10	$705	$900	$195
20	$2,725	$3,460	$735
30	$7,898	$9,979	$2,081

Expense ratio

0.39%EMB, cheaper
0.50%PCY

EMB0.39%PCY0.50%

0.15%0.85%

Middle half of Emerging Markets Bonds (US Dollar) funds
Median 0.40%

EMB 6th cheapest of 17 funds

PCY 11th cheapest of 17 funds

EMB vs PCY Dividends

Last 12 months to Nov 2, 2026

Yield (12M): EMB 5.81%; PCY 6.24%, better
Payout (12M): EMB $5.34; PCY $1.27
Last payment: EMB $0.40; PCY $0.11
Ex-dividend: EMB Nov 2, 2026; PCY Oct 19, 2026
Paid on: EMB Pays Nov 5, 2026; PCY Oct 23, 2026
Frequency: EMB Monthly; PCY Monthly

Distribution history

Per share, 2023 to 2026, same scale for both

EMBMonthly · 47 paymentsAll EMB payments⁠

PCYMonthly · 46 paymentsAll PCY payments⁠

EMB vs PCY Risk

Fall from peak · 5 years

Risk facts

VolatilityStd dev, 3 years: EMB 7.3%, betterPCY 10.9%
Return per unit of riskSharpe ratio, 3 years: EMB 0.73, betterPCY 0.62
Worst fallMax drawdown, 5 years: EMB −27.5%, betterPCY −36.0%
Market sensitivityBeta, 5 years: EMB 1.08PCY 1.59; Market = 1

EMB and PCY in the news

All news⁠

New ETFs
T. Rowe Price's 0.45% fund undercuts VanEck's full emerging-markets bond mix
Oct 5, 2026EMB
Deep Dive
Korea's 3.9% drop split two kinds of emerging-markets fund
Sep 20, 2026EMB
News
Bolivia lifts diesel 83% a day after Congress clears $1.9 billion IMF loan
Sep 19, 2026EMB
News
Brazil cuts the Selic to 13.75% as the Fed hikes, narrowing the rate gap
Sep 17, 2026EMB
News
Vietnam weighs first dollar bond since 2014 as one lender pitches a coupon near 7%
Sep 15, 2026EMB
New ETFs
BNY Mellon's new emerging-market debt ETF is active, unconstrained, and not a cheaper EMB
Sep 14, 2026EMB

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EMB vs PCY

In short

Stated mandate

Why people hold it