FTHF vs QEMM

FTHFDFirst Trust Emerging Markets Human Flourishing ETF

QEMMBState Street SPDR MSCI Emerging Markets StrategicFactors ETF

In short

FTHF First Trust's emerging markets fund tracks a "human flourishing" index, layering profitability and quality screens onto roughly 100 EM stocks. No other fund in its peer group follows the same benchmark.

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

FTHF The fund seeks to track the Emerging Markets Human Flourishing Index before fees and expenses and normally invests at least 80% of net assets in securities comprising that index.

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

Why people hold it

• FTHF A mandate nobody else runs: it is the only fund in its emerging markets multifactor peer group tracking the Emerging Markets Human Flourishing Index.ftportfolios.com
• The index screen is advertised on profitability and quality, so the basket leans toward EM companies that earn their keep rather than whoever has the biggest market cap.ftportfolios.com
• Rules-based and readable: roughly 100 stocks, with at least 80% of net assets normally in index constituents. You can see what you own and why.ftportfolios.com
• Distributions run on a quarterly schedule, the standard cadence for a diversified equity index fund.

• 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

• FTHF The specialty index carries a specialty price: 0.75% a year, versus 0.26% at EMGF and 0.36% at AVES. You are paying up for the screen.
• Launched in 2023 and thinly traded, so the record is short and spreads can run wider than in the category's household-name funds.
• It is emerging markets equity, full stop: currency swings, local politics and single-country concentration ride along with the factor screen.

• 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 FTHF profile⁠

Full QEMM profile⁠