EEM vs. SPGM: EEM Delivers Higher Returns but Costs More Than SPGM

Jake Lerch, The Motley Fool

Fri, March 27, 2026 astatine 8:51 AM CDT 4 min read

The State Street SPDR Portfolio MSCI Global Stock Market ETF(NYSEMKT:SPGM) and the iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF(NYSEMKT:EEM) disagree astir successful cost, hazard profile, and geographic focus: EEM charges overmuch higher fees and concentrating connected emerging markets, portion SPGM offers broader planetary diversification astatine a little expense.

SPGM aims to supply low-cost, diversified vulnerability to some developed and emerging planetary equities, making it a halfway holding for investors seeking worldwide banal marketplace coverage. In contrast, EEM focuses specifically connected large- and mid-cap stocks wrong emerging economies, offering a targeted mode to entree faster-growing markets but with a narrower, much volatile profile. This examination highlights each fund’s cost, caller performance, risk, and portfolio creation to assistance clarify which attack whitethorn amended acceptable antithetic objectives.

Beta measures terms volatility comparative to the S&P 500; beta is calculated from five-year monthly returns. The 1-yr instrumentality represents full instrumentality implicit the trailing 12 months.

SPGM stands retired for its acold little disbursal ratio, making it the much affordable enactment for cost-conscious investors, portion EEM charges a overmuch higher fee. EEM offers a somewhat higher dividend yield, which whitethorn entreaty to those seeking a modestly larger income watercourse from emerging markets exposure.

EEM tracks an emerging markets scale and presently holds 1,223 stocks, with a pronounced tilt toward exertion (34%) and fiscal services (19%). Its apical holdings are Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing(NYSE:TSM) astatine 12.51%, Samsung Electronics Ltd(FRA:SSU) astatine 5.24%, and Tencent Holdings Ltd(OTC:TCEHY) astatine 3.67%. With much than 23 years of history, EEM offers entree to immoderate of the largest companies successful Asia and Latin America, but its attraction successful a fistful of tech giants tin pb to higher volatility and deeper drawdowns during marketplace stress.

SPGM, by contrast, provides vulnerability to astir 3,000 companies crossed developed and emerging markets, with exertion (25%), fiscal services (17%), and industrials (14%) arsenic its largest sectors. Its apical holdings—Nvidia Corp (NASDAQ:NVDA), Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL), and Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ:MSFT)—are each U.S.-based exertion leaders, providing a antithetic geographic and assemblage equilibrium than EEM. SPGM’s wide diversification helps trim state and single-stock risk, starring to a smoother thrust for investors.