ILF vs VEXC

ILFBiShares Latin America 40 ETF

VEXCAVanguard Emerging Markets Ex-China ETF

In short

ILF One of the original ways to own Latin America in a single ticker. Since 2001, ILF has held about 40 of the region's largest listed companies: a concentrated regional slice, not a broad international fund.

VEXC Vanguard's emerging markets, China removed. Same index-tracking discipline, 0.07% a year, a fraction of what the typical EM fund charges. Ex-China is no longer a niche idea; this is the cheap way to own it.

Stated mandate

ILF The fund seeks to track an index consisting of 40 of the largest Latin American equities.

VEXC The fund invests in emerging-market stocks while excluding China and seeks to closely track the FTSE Emerging ex China Index.

Why people hold it

• ILF Launched in 2001, making it one of the longest-running single-ticker routes into Latin American equities, across multiple regional booms and busts.
• A multi-billion-dollar fund that trades actively, so getting in and out is rarely the hard part.
• Simple, rules-based mandate: an index of 40 of the largest Latin American equities. What the label says is what sits in the basket.ishares.com
• Income from those large caps is passed through on a quarterly schedule.

• VEXC Charges 0.07% a year against a 0.49% median for emerging-markets funds, and undercuts the other top-graded names in the group, including XCEM at 0.16% and BKEM at 0.11%.
• Rules-based, not opinion-based: it tracks the FTSE Emerging ex China Index, so the China carve-out is written into the mandate rather than left to a manager's discretion.vanguard.com
• Splitting China out of emerging markets puts the sizing decision in your hands instead of accepting whatever weight a broad EM index assigns. Pays quarterly.vanguard.com
• Ranks among the strongest implementations in its emerging-markets peer group on the things we measure: cost, mandate clarity, index discipline.

Worth knowing

• ILF At 0.47% a year it costs more than the typical broad international fund (cohort median 0.35%) and well above index giants like VXUS at 0.05%.
• About 40 stocks across a handful of Latin American markets. Concentration cuts both ways, and one country's politics can drive most of the ride.
• The stocks trade in local currencies while the fund is priced in dollars, so exchange rates add a second layer of movement on top of the shares.ishares.com

• VEXC Launched in 2025 and still thinly traded, so it lacks the trading heft of the giant EM funds. Spreads can be wider than the Vanguard name suggests.
• Excluding an entire country by rule means results will drift away from broad EM funds, in both directions, depending on how China does.
• The remaining basket screens more concentrated than most funds in the category, so a handful of countries and sectors drive much of the outcome.

Full ILF profile⁠

Full VEXC profile⁠