KEMX vs VEXC

KEMXBKraneShares MSCI Emerging Markets ex China Index ETF

VEXCAVanguard Emerging Markets Ex-China ETF

In short

KEMX KraneShares made its name on China funds. This is the one that leaves China out: roughly 300 large and mid cap stocks from the rest of the emerging world, at 0.24% net of a waiver through August 1, 2028.

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

KEMX The Fund seeks to track the price and yield performance of the MSCI Emerging Markets ex China Index. It normally invests at least 80% of assets in securities or instruments corresponding to that index.

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

• KEMX 0.24% a year, net of a waiver running through August 1, 2028, which lands below the category median. The gross fee underneath is 0.59%.
• Plain index replication: at least 80% of assets in MSCI Emerging Markets ex China Index securities, and it has tracked that benchmark tightly.
• The index reaches about 85% of free-float market cap in each country it covers, so dropping China still leaves broad reach across Taiwan, Korea, India and the rest.msci.commsci.com 2
• Listed since 2019 and sitting in the upper half of its emerging markets peer group in our review.sec.gov

• 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

• KEMX Thinly traded next to the category's giants, so bid-ask spreads can be wider and big orders can move the price.
• The 0.24% is a waived rate; if it lapses after August 1, 2028, the gross fee is 0.59%. Cheaper unwaived options sit in the group, including VEXC at 0.07% and XCEM at 0.16%.
• Zero China exposure, by design. That makes it a different animal from a standard emerging markets fund, not a tweak at the margin.

• 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 KEMX profile⁠

Full VEXC profile⁠