DFAE vs JHEM: Differences, Returns & Fees
DFAE and JHEM hold 62% of their weight in the same names, and JHEM returned +27.1% over the year. Net assets: $9.5bn on Jul 31, 2026 for Dimensional Emerging Core Equity Market ETF, and $1.0bn on Jun 30, 2026 for John Hancock Multifactor Emerging Markets ETF.
DFAE costs 0.20 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 1.1 points; DFAE is 11.8 times larger.
| DFAE | JHEM | |
|---|---|---|
| Expense ratio | 0.29% | 0.49% |
| Net assets, as of Jan 31, 2026 | $8.2bn | $696m |
| Total return, 1 year | +26.0% | +27.1% |
| What it tracks | No index, actively managed | John Hancock Dimensional Emerging Markets Index |
| Holdings in common | 62% | |
| Top ten holdings, share of the fund | 30.5% | 28.2% |
| Below its high | 5.0%, high on Jun 22, 2026 | 4.8%, high on Jun 18, 2026 |
Holdings in common uses holdings dated Jun 30, 2026 and Jul 31, 2026.
What they hold in common
By the books each fund has filed, DFAE and JHEM hold 62% 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 Jun 30, 2026 and Jul 31, 2026.
half
62% in common
On the same fields
DFAE and JHEM 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 JHEM
JHEM tracks an index. Over the year to Oct 9, 2026 it returned +27.1% with distributions reinvested. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.49% a year. By its holdings filed for Jun 30, 2026, 0% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 953 positions, with the top ten at 28.2%. It sat 4.8% below its high of Jun 18, 2026 on Oct 9, 2026.
Questions people ask
- Which returned more over the last year, DFAE or JHEM?
- In the year to Oct 9, 2026, with distributions reinvested, DFAE returned +26.0% and JHEM +27.1%.
- Which is cheaper, DFAE or JHEM?
- DFAE is cheaper, by 0.20 percentage points a year. That is about $20 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 JHEM, data as of Oct 9, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/dfae-vs-jhem
ETFIQ. (Oct 9, 2026). DFAE against JHEM. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/dfae-vs-jhem
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