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Is Schwab Fundamental Emerging Markets Equity ETF (FNDE) a Strong ETF Right Now?
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Making its debut on 08/13/2013, smart beta exchange traded fund Schwab Fundamental Emerging Markets Equity ETF (FNDE - Free Report) provides investors broad exposure to the Broad Emerging Market ETFs category of the market.
What Are Smart Beta ETFs?
Products that are based on market cap weighted indexes, which are strategies designed to reflect a specific market segment or the market as a whole, have traditionally dominated the ETF industry.
Market cap weighted indexes offer a low-cost, convenient, and transparent way of replicating market returns, and are a good option for investors who believe in market efficiency.
However, some investors believe in the possibility of beating the market through exceptional stock selection, and choose a different type of fund that tracks non-cap weighted strategies: smart beta.
These indexes attempt to select stocks that have better chances of risk-return performance, based on certain fundamental characteristics or a combination of such characteristics.
Even though this space provides many choices to investors--think one of the simplest methodologies like equal-weighting and more complicated ones like fundamental and volatility/momentum based weighting--not all have been able to deliver first-rate results.
Fund Sponsor & Index
The fund is managed by Charles Schwab. FNDE has been able to amass assets over $7.34 billion, making it one of the largest ETFs in the Broad Emerging Market ETFs. Before fees and expenses, FNDE seeks to match the performance of the Russell RAFI Emerging Markets Large Co. Index (Net).
The RAFI Fundamental High Liquidity Emerging Markets Index measures the performance of large sized companies, based on their fundamental size and weight, in emerging market countries.
Cost & Other Expenses
For ETF investors, expense ratios are an important factor when considering a fund's return; in the long-term, cheaper funds actually have the ability to outperform their more expensive cousins if all other things remain the same.
Annual operating expenses for this ETF are 0.39%, making it on par with most peer products in the space.
It's 12-month trailing dividend yield comes in at 4.01%.
Sector Exposure and Top Holdings
While ETFs offer diversified exposure, which minimizes single stock risk, a deep look into a fund's holdings is a valuable exercise. And, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.
Taking into account individual holdings, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturingaccounts for about 4.67% of the fund's total assets, followed by China Construction Bank Corp H and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.
The top 10 holdings account for about 24.37% of total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
Year-to-date, the Schwab Fundamental Emerging Markets Equity ETF has added roughly 19.18% so far, and was up about 18.82% over the last 12 months (as of 09/03/2025). FNDE has traded between $26.66 $34.82 in this past 52-week period.
The fund has a beta of 0.62 and standard deviation of 16.73% for the trailing three-year period, which makes FNDE a medium risk choice in this particular space. With about 409 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk .
Alternatives
Schwab Fundamental Emerging Markets Equity ETF is a reasonable option for investors seeking to outperform the Broad Emerging Market ETFs segment of the market. However, there are other ETFs in the space which investors could consider.
Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets ETF (VWO) tracks FTSE Emerging Markets All Cap China A Inclusion Index and the iShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets ETF (IEMG) tracks MSCI Emerging Markets Investable Market Index. Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets ETF has $96.18 billion in assets, iShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets ETF has $101.47 billion. VWO has an expense ratio of 0.07% and IEMG changes 0.09%.
Investors looking for cheaper and lower-risk options should consider traditional market cap weighted ETFs that aim to match the returns of the Broad Emerging Market ETFs
Bottom Line
To learn more about this product and other ETFs, screen for products that match your investment objectives and read articles on latest developments in the ETF investing universe, please visit Zacks ETF Center.
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Is Schwab Fundamental Emerging Markets Equity ETF (FNDE) a Strong ETF Right Now?
Making its debut on 08/13/2013, smart beta exchange traded fund Schwab Fundamental Emerging Markets Equity ETF (FNDE - Free Report) provides investors broad exposure to the Broad Emerging Market ETFs category of the market.
What Are Smart Beta ETFs?
Products that are based on market cap weighted indexes, which are strategies designed to reflect a specific market segment or the market as a whole, have traditionally dominated the ETF industry.
Market cap weighted indexes offer a low-cost, convenient, and transparent way of replicating market returns, and are a good option for investors who believe in market efficiency.
However, some investors believe in the possibility of beating the market through exceptional stock selection, and choose a different type of fund that tracks non-cap weighted strategies: smart beta.
These indexes attempt to select stocks that have better chances of risk-return performance, based on certain fundamental characteristics or a combination of such characteristics.
Even though this space provides many choices to investors--think one of the simplest methodologies like equal-weighting and more complicated ones like fundamental and volatility/momentum based weighting--not all have been able to deliver first-rate results.
Fund Sponsor & Index
The fund is managed by Charles Schwab. FNDE has been able to amass assets over $7.34 billion, making it one of the largest ETFs in the Broad Emerging Market ETFs. Before fees and expenses, FNDE seeks to match the performance of the Russell RAFI Emerging Markets Large Co. Index (Net).
The RAFI Fundamental High Liquidity Emerging Markets Index measures the performance of large sized companies, based on their fundamental size and weight, in emerging market countries.
Cost & Other Expenses
For ETF investors, expense ratios are an important factor when considering a fund's return; in the long-term, cheaper funds actually have the ability to outperform their more expensive cousins if all other things remain the same.
Annual operating expenses for this ETF are 0.39%, making it on par with most peer products in the space.
It's 12-month trailing dividend yield comes in at 4.01%.
Sector Exposure and Top Holdings
While ETFs offer diversified exposure, which minimizes single stock risk, a deep look into a fund's holdings is a valuable exercise. And, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.
Taking into account individual holdings, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturingaccounts for about 4.67% of the fund's total assets, followed by China Construction Bank Corp H and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.
The top 10 holdings account for about 24.37% of total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
Year-to-date, the Schwab Fundamental Emerging Markets Equity ETF has added roughly 19.18% so far, and was up about 18.82% over the last 12 months (as of 09/03/2025). FNDE has traded between $26.66 $34.82 in this past 52-week period.
The fund has a beta of 0.62 and standard deviation of 16.73% for the trailing three-year period, which makes FNDE a medium risk choice in this particular space. With about 409 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk .
Alternatives
Schwab Fundamental Emerging Markets Equity ETF is a reasonable option for investors seeking to outperform the Broad Emerging Market ETFs segment of the market. However, there are other ETFs in the space which investors could consider.
Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets ETF (VWO) tracks FTSE Emerging Markets All Cap China A Inclusion Index and the iShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets ETF (IEMG) tracks MSCI Emerging Markets Investable Market Index. Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets ETF has $96.18 billion in assets, iShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets ETF has $101.47 billion. VWO has an expense ratio of 0.07% and IEMG changes 0.09%.
Investors looking for cheaper and lower-risk options should consider traditional market cap weighted ETFs that aim to match the returns of the Broad Emerging Market ETFs
Bottom Line
To learn more about this product and other ETFs, screen for products that match your investment objectives and read articles on latest developments in the ETF investing universe, please visit Zacks ETF Center.