Outside the Box
Is your emerging-markets fund an accidental bet on AI? Returns for these two ETFs show why it might be.
July 20, 2026, 10:37 a.m. ET
Suppose you already have substantial exposure to U.S. equities. After another strong year for the American market, you decide to diversify internationally by purchasing an emerging-markets exchange-traded fund. Two obvious choices are the biggest in the category: BlackRock’s iShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets ETF IEMG, which trades under the ticker symbol “IEMG,” and Vanguard’s FTSE Emerging Markets ETF VWO, which trades under “VWO.”
At first glance, the funds appear nearly identical. Both hold thousands of companies across emerging markets. Both charge rock-bottom fees. Both manage more than $150 billion. Most investors would expect them to deliver nearly identical long-run returns.
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