FEM vs QEMM

FEMCFirst Trust Emerging Markets AlphaDEX Fund

QEMMBState Street SPDR MSCI Emerging Markets StrategicFactors ETF

In short

FEM A 2011-vintage take on emerging markets that skips cap-weighting: it ranks stocks on growth and value factors, keeps the top scorers, and weights them in tiers, so the megacap giants don't run the portfolio. The fee sits at the high end.

QEMM Instead of betting on one factor, QEMM buys value, quality and low volatility across emerging markets at once, packing roughly 800 stocks into a single MSCI factor-blend index for 0.30% a year.

Stated mandate

FEM The fund seeks results that generally correspond, before fees and expenses, to the price and yield of the Nasdaq AlphaDEX Emerging Markets Index. It normally invests at least 90% of net assets in index securities and uses indexing to replicate the index.

QEMM The fund seeks to track the MSCI Emerging Markets (EM) Factor Mix A-Series Index.

Why people hold it

• FEM Ranks emerging-market stocks on growth and value factors, then weights the survivors in tiers, so the strongest scorers carry more weight than size alone would give them.nasdaqomx.com
• Holds roughly 160 names under tiered equal weighting, leaving more room for mid-size and smaller companies than a cap-weighted EM benchmark.nasdaqomx.com
• Running since 2011 through several EM cycles, with at least 90% of net assets in index securities and cash paid out quarterly.
• A few hundred million in assets and moderate volume: no giant, but an established fund rather than a launch-stage one.

• QEMM One ticket, three tilts: the MSCI EM Factor Mix A-Series Index blends value, quality and low volatility, so no single style has to be in favor for the strategy to run as designed.ssga.com
• At 0.30% a year it undercuts the typical fee in the multifactor emerging-markets crowd, and the portfolio is built by index rules rather than a manager's hunch.
• Running since 2014 with roughly 800 holdings and State Street behind the wrapper: a long-lived option in a corner of the market where niche products often quietly close.
• The low-volatility sleeve is the tell. This is emerging-markets exposure assembled to smooth the ride, not to chase the hottest single factor.ssga.com

Worth knowing

• FEM At 0.80% a year it costs well above the median fee in its multifactor EM group, where cheaper builds exist (EMGF at 0.26%, AVES at 0.36%).
• The factor screen and tiered weights can push results well away from headline cap-weighted EM indexes, in either direction.nasdaqomx.com
• Country and sector weights fall out of the ranking rules, so nobody is steering exposure toward or away from a given market.nasdaqomx.com

• QEMM Trades thinner than the category's household names, so spreads can be wider. That bites most on large or hurried orders.
• Splitting the bet three ways dilutes each factor by design, so the portfolio rarely looks or moves like a plain-vanilla emerging-markets index.
• Distributions land once or twice a year rather than quarterly, and peers such as EMGF carry a lower fee for multifactor EM exposure.

Full FEM profile⁠

Full QEMM profile⁠