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Is Schwab Fundamental Emerging Markets Equity ETF (FNDE) a Strong ETF Right Now?
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The Schwab Fundamental Emerging Markets Equity ETF (FNDE - Free Report) was launched on 08/13/2013, and is a smart beta exchange traded fund designed to offer broad exposure to the Broad Emerging Market ETFs category of the market.
What Are Smart Beta ETFs?
The ETF industry has traditionally been dominated by products based on market capitalization weighted indexes that are designed to represent the market or a particular segment of the market.
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.
There are some investors, though, who think it's possible to beat the market with great stock selection; this group likely invests in another class of funds known as smart beta, which track non-cap weighted strategies.
This kind of index follows this same mindset, as it attempts to pick stocks that have better chances of risk-return performance; non-cap weighted strategies base selection on certain fundamental characteristics, or a mix of such characteristics.
This area offers many different investment choices, such as simplest equal-weighting, fundamental weighting and volatility/momentum based weighting methodologies; however, not all of these strategies can deliver superior results.
Fund Sponsor & Index
Managed by Charles Schwab, FNDE has amassed assets over $8.39 billion, making it one of the largest ETFs in the Broad Emerging Market ETFs. FNDE seeks to match the performance of the Russell RAFI Emerging Markets Large Co. Index (Net) before fees and expenses.
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
Investors should also pay attention to an ETF's expense ratio. Lower cost products will produce better results than those with a higher cost, assuming all other metrics remain the same.
Annual operating expenses for FNDE are 0.39%, which makes it on par with most peer products in the space.
FNDE's 12-month trailing dividend yield is 4.08%.
Sector Exposure and Top Holdings
Even though ETFs offer diversified exposure which minimizes single stock risk, it is still important to look into a fund's holdings before investing. Luckily, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.
Looking at individual holdings, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing accounts for about 4.85% of total assets, followed by Alibaba Group Holding Ltd and China Construction Bank Corp H.
FNDE's top 10 holdings account for about 26.43% of its total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
The ETF has added roughly 2.63% so far this year and is up roughly 33.28% in the last one year (as of 01/08/2026). In the past 52-week period, it has traded between $26.66 and $37.71
FNDE has a beta of 0.54 and standard deviation of 15.72% for the trailing three-year period, which makes the fund a medium risk choice in the space. With about 418 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 $108.56 billion in assets, iShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets ETF has $124.93 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?
The Schwab Fundamental Emerging Markets Equity ETF (FNDE - Free Report) was launched on 08/13/2013, and is a smart beta exchange traded fund designed to offer broad exposure to the Broad Emerging Market ETFs category of the market.
What Are Smart Beta ETFs?
The ETF industry has traditionally been dominated by products based on market capitalization weighted indexes that are designed to represent the market or a particular segment of the market.
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.
There are some investors, though, who think it's possible to beat the market with great stock selection; this group likely invests in another class of funds known as smart beta, which track non-cap weighted strategies.
This kind of index follows this same mindset, as it attempts to pick stocks that have better chances of risk-return performance; non-cap weighted strategies base selection on certain fundamental characteristics, or a mix of such characteristics.
This area offers many different investment choices, such as simplest equal-weighting, fundamental weighting and volatility/momentum based weighting methodologies; however, not all of these strategies can deliver superior results.
Fund Sponsor & Index
Managed by Charles Schwab, FNDE has amassed assets over $8.39 billion, making it one of the largest ETFs in the Broad Emerging Market ETFs. FNDE seeks to match the performance of the Russell RAFI Emerging Markets Large Co. Index (Net) before fees and expenses.
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
Investors should also pay attention to an ETF's expense ratio. Lower cost products will produce better results than those with a higher cost, assuming all other metrics remain the same.
Annual operating expenses for FNDE are 0.39%, which makes it on par with most peer products in the space.
FNDE's 12-month trailing dividend yield is 4.08%.
Sector Exposure and Top Holdings
Even though ETFs offer diversified exposure which minimizes single stock risk, it is still important to look into a fund's holdings before investing. Luckily, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.
Looking at individual holdings, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing accounts for about 4.85% of total assets, followed by Alibaba Group Holding Ltd and China Construction Bank Corp H.
FNDE's top 10 holdings account for about 26.43% of its total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
The ETF has added roughly 2.63% so far this year and is up roughly 33.28% in the last one year (as of 01/08/2026). In the past 52-week period, it has traded between $26.66 and $37.71
FNDE has a beta of 0.54 and standard deviation of 15.72% for the trailing three-year period, which makes the fund a medium risk choice in the space. With about 418 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 $108.56 billion in assets, iShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets ETF has $124.93 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.