EMB vs TEMD

EMBAiShares J.P. Morgan USD Emerging Markets Bond ETF

TEMDCTempleton Emerging Markets 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.

TEMD Franklin Templeton's 2026 entry into emerging market bonds: at least 80% of net assets in EM debt, held in a focused book of roughly 80 positions. A specialist corner of the bond market in standard ETF plumbing.

Stated mandate

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

TEMD The Fund invests at least 80% of its net assets in emerging market debt securities under normal market conditions.

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.

• TEMD The mandate is written down, not implied: at least 80% of net assets in emerging market debt securities under normal conditions. You know which corner of the bond market you are standing in.
• Roughly 80 positions, not thousands. Concentrated enough that individual sovereign and corporate credit calls actually move the fund, rather than getting averaged away.
• Ordinary 1940 Act ETF structure from a large global bond house: 1099 tax reporting, no K-1, daily creations and redemptions.

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

• TEMD It charges 0.45% a year, above the typical fund in its broad bond cohort. The index heavyweights there, BND and SPAB, run at 0.03%. Specialist EM credit work is what the gap buys.
• Launched in 2026 and thinly traded, so the record is short and bid-ask spreads can run wider than in a mega bond fund. Trading costs are part of the total bill.
• Payouts arrive on an irregular schedule, so there is no fixed monthly or quarterly rhythm to plan around.

Full EMB profile⁠

Full TEMD profile⁠