KEMX vs XSOE

KEMXBKraneShares MSCI Emerging Markets ex China Index ETF

XSOEAWisdomTree Emerging Markets ex-State-Owned Enterprises Fund

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.

XSOE One screen, applied hard: if a government owns more than 20% of a company, XSOE leaves it out. What is left is emerging markets minus the state champions, with country weights pushed back toward the standard EM mix.

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.

XSOE The fund seeks to track the investment results of emerging-market companies that are not state-owned enterprises, defined as companies with no more than 20% government ownership.

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

• XSOE The 20% government-ownership cutoff is an index rule, not a manager's judgment call, and the fund has run on it since its 2014 launch.wisdomtree.com
• 0.32% a year, under the typical fund in its emerging-markets peer group, for a screen most broad EM funds never apply.
• After the state-owned names come out, the index pushes country weights back toward where they started, so it stays a filtered EM portfolio rather than a country bet.wisdomtree.com
• A multi-billion-dollar fund spread across roughly 800 stocks, and it has tracked its index closely.

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.

• XSOE Cheaper broad EM shelf-mates exist (BKEM at 0.11%, XCEM at 0.16%). The screen is what you are paying the difference for.
• Government stakes cluster in banks and energy in EM, so removing them shifts the sector mix toward private-sector names. Expect it to behave differently from a plain EM index.wisdomtree.com
• No country is excluded, so China stays in the mix, unlike ex-China peers VEXC and XCEM. It also sits among the more volatile funds in its peer group.

Full KEMX profile⁠

Full XSOE profile⁠