EMHC vs XEMD

EMHCAState Street SPDR Bloomberg Emerging Markets USD Bond ETF

XEMDABondBloxx JP Morgan USD Emerging Markets 1-10 Year Bond ETF

In short

EMHC Emerging market debt without the currency roulette. EMHC holds only dollar-denominated bonds, and its index reaches past national governments into state-owned issuers, roughly 500 positions, for 0.23% a year.

XEMD J.P. Morgan's flagship emerging-markets dollar-bond index with the long end trimmed off: sovereign and quasi-sovereign debt maturing inside 10 years, priced in US dollars, for 0.29% a year.

Stated mandate

EMHC The fund seeks to track, before fees and expenses, the price and yield performance of the Bloomberg Emerging Market USD Sovereign and Sovereign Owned Index. It is designed to provide broad exposure to fixed-rate U.S.-dollar-denominated debt issued by emerging-market sovereign and quasi-sovereign issuers.

XEMD The Fund seeks to track an index of U.S.-dollar-denominated emerging-market bonds with an average life below 10 years.

Why people hold it

• EMHC Costs 0.23% a year, below the median expense ratio in its bond peer group.
• Tracks sovereign and sovereign-owned dollar debt, roughly 500 bonds, so state-backed issuers count too, not just national governments.
• Everything in it is dollar-denominated. Local currency moves against the dollar don't flow into the return the way they do in local-debt funds.
• Pays monthly, and has run inside State Street's SPDR bond lineup since 2021.

• XEMD Costs 0.29% a year, below the median fee among the emerging-markets funds we grade, and it pays monthly.
• Tracks the 1-10 year slice of the EMBI Global Diversified family, leaving out the 20- and 30-year paper that drives the biggest rate swings.jpmorgan.com
• The index caps each country at 10% and admits only bonds with at least $1 billion outstanding, so no single borrower dominates and thin issues are screened out.jpmorgan.com
• Every bond is dollar-denominated, so local-currency moves stay out of returns. It grades in the top quartile of its emerging-markets peer group.

Worth knowing

• EMHC Not one of the heavily traded names in its category. Spreads can run wider than on core bond funds like BND or SPAB, so order type and timing matter more.
• Emerging market government and state-owned credit brings default and political risk that Treasuries don't, and it sits at the riskier end of its bond cohort.
• The mandate is emerging market dollar bonds only. No Treasuries, no US corporates, so it works as a slice beside a core bond holding rather than as one.

• XEMD This is emerging-market government and quasi-government credit: default and spread risk stay on the table, even without currency risk.jpmorgan.com
• Stopping near 10 years cuts rate sensitivity, but it also means no exposure to the long-dated EM bonds some allocations lean on.jpmorgan.com
• Launched in 2022, moderately traded, and holding roughly 200 bonds: younger and narrower than the category's long-running giants.

Full EMHC profile⁠

Full XEMD profile⁠