iShares ETFs cover a broad range of asset classes, risk profiles and investment outcomes. To understand the appropriateness of this fund for your investment objective, please visit our product webpage.
iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ex China ETF (EMXC)
https://www.blackrock.com/au/products/337684/ishares-msci-emerging-markets-ex-china-etf
This product is likely to be appropriate for a consumer:
• who is seeking capital growth
• using the product for a core component of their portfolio or less
• with a minimum investment timeframe of 5 years, and
• with a medium to high risk/return profile
iShares China Large-Cap ETF (IZZ)
https://www.blackrock.com/au/products/273424/
This product is likely to be appropriate for a consumer:
• who is seeking capital growth
• using the product for a core component of their portfolio or less
• with a minimum investment timeframe of 5 years, and
• with a high to very high risk/return profile
iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF (IEM)
https://www.blackrock.com/au/products/273417/
This product is likely to be appropriate for a consumer:
• who is seeking capital growth
• using the product for a core component of their portfolio or less
• with a minimum investment timeframe of 5 years, and
• with a high to very high risk/return profile
iShares J.P. Morgan USD Emerging Markets Bond (AUD Hedged) ETF (IHEB)
https://www.blackrock.com/au/products/275254/
This product is likely to be appropriate for a consumer:
• who is seeking capital preservation and/or income distribution
• using the product for a major allocation of their portfolio or less
• with a minimum investment timeframe of 5 years, and
• with a medium risk/return profile
Looking to add diversification to your portfolio?
The iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF, or IEM, gives you a simple way to access some of the world’s largest and fastest-growing economies.
Offering exposure to over 800 emerging market stocks, including tech powerhouses TSMC, Tencent and Alibaba, IEM allows investors to tap into markets in Asia, India and beyond.
With a more than 30% weighting to China, the world’s second-largest economy, and 17% weighting to India, the world’s fastest growing economy, IEM may offer additional growth potential for investors already holding a portfolio of broad developed market global equities.
Emerging market shares typically have a lower correlation to other equity markets like the US, meaning they may act as a useful diversification tool for your portfolio if this market falls in value.
Investors should be aware that there are risks involved in investing in emerging markets, including the risk of a sudden drawdown in assets.
For more information on IEM, reach out to your adviser or visit blackrock.com/au.
Harvest new opportunities with emerging market ETFs
Emerging markets have outperformed the developed world in 20261, offering differentiated exposure to AI hardware as global demand for datacenters soars. Providing diversification benefits and exposure to long-term growth stories, emerging markets may be set to continue driving positive sentiment in markets.
Tailoring your emerging market investments
Investing in emerging markets can be complex to access as an individual investor, with a range of local legal and administrative requirements to contend with. ETFs have helped investors to access baskets of shares from these markets in a direct, efficient, and easily tradeable way, with the ETF provider doing the legwork of meeting administrative obligations.
Historically, investors have treated the umbrella of EM as one asset class. But as China’s weight in the major EM indices has grown, we have seen an increased interest from investors in making distinct allocations between EM ex-China and China, to more flexibly tailor their investment views across the different regions.
For instance, while China accounts for around 20% of the MSCI EM Index, it represents less than 3% in global benchmarks.3 As companies from the world’s second largest economy expand, investors may elect to overweight or underweight allocations to China relative to its significance in global markets.
Why emerging markets?
Emerging market economies are positioned to benefit from some of the key ‘mega forces’ driving growth opportunities in today’s investment landscape.
The most dominant of these forces recently has been artificial intelligence, as the production of AI infrastructure used by US tech hyperscalers relies heavily on Asia’s technology ecosystem.
This growing importance is being reflected in trade data. Technology exports from Taiwan – now the largest geographic weighting in the MSCI EM Index - are expected to grow almost 40% in 2026, their fastest rate of growth since the 1970s4.
Semiconductor exports from the index’s second largest weighting, South Korea, also reached a record monthly high of US$37 billion in May 2026 as demand for AI-related hardware accelerated.5
South Korea export growth hits over 4-decade high
Source: Reuters/South Korea Customs Service, June 2026. Note percentage changes on a year-on-year basis.
China has also emerged as a disrupting force in the tech sector, offering low-cost AI models and an expanding export base in electronic integrated circuits.
Additionally, China is likely to play a critical role in a second mega force – the energy transition – because it dominates many of the manufacturing supply chains needed for decarbonization, including solar panels, batteries and electric vehicles.
How can investors harness EMs through ETFs?
With a range of ETFs available across broad EM, EM ex China and Chinese equities, as well as EM fixed income exposures, you can adjust and blend your allocations to EM economies based on market events and your own investment views.
For investors with existing global equities exposure, an allocation to broad emerging markets may make sense for diversification purposes.6 US equities now make up more than 70% of the MSCI World Index7, yet 12-month earnings estimates for EM are almost double that of the US.8
Increasing exposure to this region through the iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF (IEM) could be a compelling option for investors looking to broaden their exposure to the AI theme outside of the Magnificent 7 tech stocks.
Alternatively, investors may choose to take a ‘building block’ approach and more flexibly manage their allocations between China and other emerging markets using the iShares China Large Cap ETF (IZZ) and iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ex China ETF (EMXC).
