DFAE vs JEMA: Differences, Returns & Fees
DFAE and JEMA hold 52% of their weight in the same names, and JEMA returned +33.0% over the year. Net assets: $9.5bn on Jul 31, 2026 for Dimensional Emerging Core Equity Market ETF, and $1.8bn on Oct 9, 2026 for JPMorgan ActiveBuilders Emerging Markets Equity ETF.
DFAE costs 0.04 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 7.0 points; DFAE is 5.8 times larger.
| DFAE | JEMA | |
|---|---|---|
| Expense ratio | 0.29% | 0.33% |
| Net assets, as of Jul 31, 2026 | $9.5bn | $1.6bn |
| Total return, 1 year | +26.0% | +33.0% |
| What it tracks | No index, actively managed | No index, actively managed |
| Holdings in common | 52% | |
| Top ten holdings, share of the fund | 30.5% | 39.4% |
| Below its high | 5.0%, high on Jun 22, 2026 | 5.8%, high on Jun 22, 2026 |
Holdings in common uses holdings dated Jul 31, 2026 and Oct 9, 2026.
What they hold in common
By the books each fund has filed, DFAE and JEMA hold 52% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Above 50%, holding both is close to holding one of them twice. Holdings dated Jul 31, 2026 and Oct 9, 2026.
half
52% in common
On the same fields
DFAE and JEMA on the fields both publish, as of Oct 9, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
About DFAE
DFAE is actively managed and tracks no index. Over the year to Oct 9, 2026 it returned +26.0% with distributions reinvested. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.29% a year. By its holdings filed for Jul 31, 2026, 0% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 6,272 positions, with the top ten at 30.5%. It sat 5.0% below its high of Jun 22, 2026 on Oct 9, 2026.
About JEMA
JEMA is actively managed and tracks no index. Over the year to Oct 9, 2026 it returned +33.0% with distributions reinvested, against +26.3% for its benchmark, the MSCI Emerging Markets Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.33% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 9, 2026, 0% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 482 positions, with the top ten at 39.4%. It sat 5.8% below its high of Jun 22, 2026 on Oct 9, 2026.
Questions people ask
- Which returned more over the last year, DFAE or JEMA?
- In the year to Oct 9, 2026, with distributions reinvested, DFAE returned +26.0% and JEMA +33.0%.
- Which is cheaper, DFAE or JEMA?
- DFAE is cheaper, by 0.04 percentage points a year. That is about $4 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
ETFIQ links to the documents behind every figure; a link is not an endorsement. A comparison is not a recommendation.
How this is computed
Overlap adds up the smaller of the two weights for each security both funds hold.
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ETFIQ, DFAE against JEMA, data as of Oct 9, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/dfae-vs-jema
ETFIQ. (Oct 9, 2026). DFAE against JEMA. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/dfae-vs-jema
[DFAE against JEMA (ETFIQ, Oct 9, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/dfae-vs-jema)
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