Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
EMXC vs EWY: Differences, Returns & Fees
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, EMXC returned +33.8% to EWY's +79.7%; 23% of their weight is in the same names.
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Net assets on Oct 28, 2026: $26.9bn for iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ex China ETF and $24.4bn for iShares MSCI South Korea ETF.
Pair scorecard
EMXC costs 0.34 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 45.9 points; EMXC is 1.1 times larger.
| Measure | EMXC | EWY |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +33.8% | +79.7% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Below its high | 11.3%, high on Jun 22, 2026 | 24.3%, high on Jun 18, 2026 |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | MSCI Emerging Markets ex China Index | MSCI Korea 25/50 Daily 25 Capped Index |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.25% | 0.59% |
| Net assets | $26.9bn | $24.4bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 23% | |
| Top ten holdings, share of the fund | 42.2% | 60.9% |
Holdings in common uses holdings dated Oct 27, 2026. Method
Risk and return
Aug 4, 2017 to Oct 23, 2026 · 481 weekly returnsEach against its own benchmark: EMXC against KEMX, Apr 18, 2019 to Oct 23, 2026; EWY against EEM, Apr 25, 2003 to Oct 23, 2026.
EWY returned more: +161.1% to +122.9%. EMXC swung less: 19.2% to 29.2%. EMXC fell less at its worst: −40.7% to −49.7%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | EMXC | EWY | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +122.9% | +161.1% | EWY | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +9.1% | +10.9% | EWY | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | +80.5% | +118.6% | EWY | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 19.2% | 29.2% | EMXC | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 13.8% | 20.0% | EMXC | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −40.7% | −49.7% | EMXC | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Upside capture | 92.3% | 115.0% | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. | |
| Downside capture | 97.9% | 103.2% | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. | |
| Beta | 0.97 | 1.08 | Not an edge | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 0.97 | 0.74 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | 0.41 | 0.41 | Tie | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 0.57 | 0.60 | EWY (slight) | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Treynor | 0.098 | 0.124 | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. | |
| Calmar | 0.22 | 0.22 | Tie | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
| Against the benchmark | ||||
| Benchmark | KEMX | EEM | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | −0.8% a year | +2.5% a year | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | −0.59 | 0.83 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. |
| Alpha range | −3.3% to +1.8% | −3.4% to +8.5% | Includes zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. |
| Information ratio | −0.30 | 0.22 | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 3.6% | 14.8% | Not an edge | How far weekly returns stray from the benchmark, annualized. |
Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 481 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
What they share
By the books each fund has filed, EMXC and EWY hold 23% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Oct 27, 2026.
half
23% in common
Only in one fund ↓
Side by side
EMXC and EWY on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
EMXC and EWY do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?
- What each follows. EMXC follows MSCI Emerging Markets ex China Index and EWY follows MSCI Korea 25/50 Daily 25 Capped Index.
- Holdings in common. 23% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Oct 27, 2026).
- One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 EMXC returned +33.8% and EWY +79.7% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 45.9 points.
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
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EMXC
EMXC tracks the MSCI Emerging Markets ex China. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +33.8% with distributions reinvested, against +37.0% for its benchmark, the MSCI Emerging Markets ex China Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.25% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026, 0% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 696 positions, with the top ten at 42.2%. It sat 11.3% below its high of Jun 22, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.
EWY
EWY tracks the MSCI South Korea. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +79.7% with distributions reinvested, against +16.3% for its benchmark, the MSCI Emerging Markets Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.59% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026, 0% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 78 positions, with the top ten at 60.9%. It sat 24.3% below its high of Jun 18, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.
Questions people ask
- Which returned more over the last year, EMXC or EWY?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, EMXC returned +33.8% and EWY +79.7%.
- Which is cheaper, EMXC or EWY?
- EMXC is cheaper, by 0.34 percentage points a year. That is about $34 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
Links are sources, not endorsements. 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, EMXC against EWY, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/emxc-vs-ewy
ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). EMXC against EWY. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/emxc-vs-ewy
[EMXC against EWY (ETFIQ, Oct 28, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/emxc-vs-ewy)
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