For the first time since October, BlackRock Inc.’s emerging-markets exchange traded fund(ETF) saw greater inflows than its rival offering from The Vanguard Group Inc. last month.
BlackRock Inc.’s iShares MSCI Emerging Markets Index Fund (NYSEArca: EEM) had net inflows of $1.7 billion in June, compared with $787.7 million for Vanguard’s Emerging Markets ETF (NYSEArca: VWO). These ETFs are in a closely-watched rivalry because they’re the two broad-based funds that track the MSCI Emerging Markets Index.
In terms of performance, VWO is down 2% year-to-date, while EEM is down 4.5%. Much of this could be economic uncertainty and an aversion to risk. Shiyin Chen and Tal Barak Harif for Bloomberg report that emerging market stocks fluctuated yesterday on signs that there could be a slowdown in economic growth, particularly if China scales back its consumption.
Jessica Toonkel Marquez for Investment News reports that iShares has made changes to many of its funds, including the emerging markets fund, to increase or decrease exposure to certain areas of the market and re-balance. Are recent inflows a product of this re-balance? [Global Rally Sends ETFs Higher.]
Since EEM features more active management, it has a greater tracking error than Vanguard’s offering. It also has higher expenses than VWO — 0.72% compared to 0.27%. While EEM has the liquidity advantage, the experts are still predicting that VWO will eventually resume the asset grab. [Coping with Trendless Markets.]
For more stories about ETFs, visit our ETF 101 category.
Tisha Guerrero contributed to this article.
The opinions and forecasts expressed herein are solely those of Tom Lydon, and may not actually come to pass. Information on this site should not be used or construed as an offer to sell, a solicitation of an offer to buy, or a recommendation for any product.