ETF Evaluator: First Trust Bloomberg Emr Mkt Dem ETF () Follow This ETF

First Trust Bloomberg Emr Mkt Dem ETF Overview

First Trust Bloomberg Emr Mkt Dem ETF (EMDM) is a passively managed International Equity Diversified Emerging Mkts exchange-traded fund (ETF). First Trust launched the ETF in 2023.

The investment seeks investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield, before fees and expenses, of an equity index called the Bloomberg Emerging Market Democracies Index. The fund will normally invest at least 80% of its net assets in the common stocks, depositary receipts, preferred shares and real estate investment trusts that comprise the index. The index is constructed to track the performance of companies within emerging market countries as determined by the index Provider, that meet minimum political rights and civil liberties standards to qualify as Electoral Democracies according to Freedom House. It is non-diversified.

About First Trust Bloomberg Emr Mkt Dem ETF (EMDM)

There are 7 members of the management team with an average tenure of 3.42 years: Daniel Lindquist (2023), Jon Erickson (2023), David McGarel (2023), Stan Ueland (2023), Chris Peterson (2023), Erik Russo (2023) and Roger Testin (2023). Management tenure is more important for actively managed ETFs than passive index ETFs.

The ETF has 2 primary benchmarks: MSCI EM NR USD index with a weighting of 100% and Bloomberg Emerging Market Democracie USD index with a weighting of 100%. First Trust Bloomberg Emr Mkt Dem ETF has 104 securities in its portfolio. The top 10 holdings constitute 44.3% of the ETF’s assets. The ETF meets the SEC requirement of being classified as a nondiversified fund. The ETF is not considered to have an ESG focus with its investment selection and management.

First Trust Bloomberg Emr Mkt Dem ETF is part of the Equity global asset class and is within the International Equity ETF group. First Trust Bloomberg Emr Mkt Dem ETF has 96.7% of its portfolio invested in foreign issues. The overall assets allocated to domestic stock is 3.1% There is 96.7% allocated to foreign stock, and 0.0% is allocated to preferred stocks. The bond allocation as a percentage of total assets is 0.0% (0.0% domestic bond, 0.0% foreign bond and 0.0% convertible bond). First Trust Bloomberg Emr Mkt Dem ETF has 0.2% of the portfolio in cash.

Assets Under Management

The fund has $38 million in total assets, which is below the $3 billion average for the Diversified Emerging Mkts category. Normally, lower assets under management translates to higher average expense ratios, and greater total assets are desired. However, for some investment categories, such as small-cap investing, it may be difficult for the manager to fully employ the desired active strategy if assets grow too large or too quickly.

EMDM Performance and Fees

The expense ratio measures how much of a fund’s assets are used for administrative expenses and operating expenses, including adviser fees and fees for the transfer agent and custodial services. The First Trust Bloomberg Emr Mkt Dem ETF expense ratio is above average compared to funds in the Diversified Emerging Mkts category. First Trust Bloomberg Emr Mkt Dem ETF has an expense ratio of 0.75%, which is 45% higher than its category average, making the fund expense ratio grade a D. While it is difficult to predict returns, it is known that high annual expense ratios reduce your rate of return, and excessive fees are difficult to overcome. Active management normally comes with higher expense ratios than passive index management. Certain investment categories such as small company and foreign also normally have higher expense ratios. It is best to compare fund expense ratios against the category averages for meaningful assessments.

High portfolio turnover can translate to higher expenses and lower aftertax returns. First Trust Bloomberg Emr Mkt Dem ETF has a portfolio turnover rate of 24%, which indicates that it holds its assets around / 0.0 years. By way of comparison, the average portfolio turnover is 44% for the Diversified Emerging Mkts category.

Recently, in the month of July 2026, First Trust Bloomberg Emr Mkt Dem ETF returned -3.8%, which earned it a grade of C, as the Diversified Emerging Mkts category had an average return of -3.0%. The letter grades of A, B, C, D and F are based upon relative rankings within the investment category. A grade of A, for example, would indicate that the return is in the highest 20% for that time period compared to all ETFs in that category.

First Trust Bloomberg Emr Mkt Dem ETF has a trailing yield of 2.89%, which is above the 2.41% category average. The fund normally distributes its income quarterly and its capital gains annually.

It’s natural to seek the best-performing investments, but you must consider the relationship between risk and return and the impact of costs and taxes on your realized returns.

First Trust Bloomberg Emr Mkt Dem ETF Grades

Year to date, the ETF has returned 31.9%, 14.8 percentage points better than the category, which translates into a grade of A. The fund has returned 68.7% over the past year (grade of A) and 27.4% over the past three years (grade of A).

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