# IEMG ETF: fees, returns, drawdowns and holdings

> What IEMG holds, its 0.09% yearly fee, returns by year, its worst drop, and which Tactfolio strategies hold it. Updated daily.

iShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets ETF (IEMG) is an exchange-traded fund (ETF) run by iShares (BlackRock). This fund owns thousands of companies in countries whose economies are still growing, such as China, India and Taiwan. It charges 0.09% a year. From October 2012 to October 2026 it returned about 6.0% a year, and its worst drop was −38.7%.

Written by [the Tactfolio research team](https://tactfolio.com/about/editorial-policy). Fund facts checked October 17, 2026. Prices through October 16, 2026.

## Key points

- Expense ratio: 0.09% a year (about $9 on $10,000).
- Started trading on October 18, 2012.
- Last close: $76.79 on October 16, 2026.
- Return over the last year: 17.6%.
- Worst drop since 2012: −38.7%.
- No Tactfolio classic strategies hold it.

## How has IEMG done since 2012?

From October 2012 to October 2026, IEMG returned about 6.0% a year. The S&P 500 returned about 14.8% a year over the same dates. Say you put in $10,000 at the start. It would have been worth about $22,531 at the end, with every dividend reinvested.

| Period | IEMG | S&P 500 (SPY) |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 1 month | −4.1% | 1.5% |
| 3 months | −1.7% | 1.9% |
| 6 months | 1.0% | 9.3% |
| Year to date | 15.2% | 12.8% |
| 1 year | 17.6% | 16.8% |
| 3 years, per year | 20.6% | 22.0% |
| 5 years, per year | 6.9% | 12.8% |
| 10 years, per year | 8.4% | 15.4% |
| Since 2012, per year | 6.0% | 14.8% |

Periods longer than a year show the return per year (CAGR). Prices through October 16, 2026. Figures use daily closing prices adjusted for splits, with dividends reinvested. They do not include taxes or the cost of buying and selling. Past results do not tell you what will happen next.

## IEMG returns by month and year

IEMG rose in 96 of its 169 months (57%). Its best month was November 2022, at 14.7%. Its worst was March 2020, at −16.9%.

| Year | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Full year |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 2026 (part) | 7.9% | 5.8% | −9.1% | 12.5% | 6.3% | 0.0% | −6.3% | 5.3% | −0.7% | −5.4% |  |  | 15.2% |
| 2025 | 1.5% | 0.9% | 1.0% | 0.4% | 4.7% | 7.2% | 0.5% | 2.9% | 6.2% | 3.6% | −1.7% | 1.9% | 32.6% |
| 2024 | −4.2% | 3.9% | 2.5% | 0.1% | 1.8% | 2.8% | 0.8% | 1.0% | 5.4% | −3.1% | −2.4% | −1.8% | 6.5% |
| 2023 | 8.9% | −6.9% | 3.0% | −0.4% | −2.1% | 4.6% | 6.0% | −6.1% | −3.0% | −3.5% | 8.1% | 3.9% | 11.5% |
| 2022 | −0.5% | −3.9% | −2.9% | −5.9% | 0.6% | −5.6% | 0.0% | −1.2% | −11.3% | −1.5% | 14.7% | −2.5% | −20.0% |
| 2021 | 2.9% | 1.4% | −0.6% | 1.7% | 1.8% | 1.2% | −5.6% | 1.4% | −3.6% | 1.1% | −3.7% | 1.8% | −0.6% |
| 2020 | −5.9% | −3.7% | −16.9% | 7.9% | 3.2% | 6.7% | 8.6% | 3.1% | −0.9% | 1.3% | 9.6% | 7.1% | 17.9% |
| 2019 | 9.6% | −1.1% | 1.1% | 2.2% | −7.0% | 5.8% | −2.5% | −3.8% | 1.6% | 4.4% | 0.0% | 7.5% | 17.8% |
| 2018 | 8.0% | −5.7% | 0.8% | −2.6% | −2.3% | −4.7% | 3.0% | −3.3% | −1.0% | −8.7% | 4.7% | −2.9% | −14.9% |
| 2017 | 6.6% | 2.0% | 3.5% | 1.9% | 2.3% | 1.1% | 5.5% | 2.3% | 0.0% | 3.3% | 0.1% | 3.7% | 37.4% |
| 2016 | −5.2% | −1.0% | 12.6% | 0.7% | −3.4% | 4.3% | 5.1% | 1.0% | 2.7% | −1.0% | −4.1% | −0.5% | 10.3% |
| 2015 | 0.0% | 4.2% | −1.4% | 7.3% | −3.6% | −2.9% | −6.6% | −9.4% | −2.0% | 6.1% | −2.3% | −3.5% | −14.3% |
| 2014 | −8.0% | 3.4% | 3.6% | 1.0% | 2.8% | 2.4% | 1.0% | 3.3% | −7.3% | 0.8% | −1.3% | −4.2% | −3.4% |
| 2013 | −0.2% | −1.5% | −1.0% | 1.4% | −4.4% | −5.5% | 1.0% | −2.5% | 7.2% | 4.1% | −0.6% | −0.1% | −2.8% |
| 2012 (part) |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | 0.0% | 1.6% | 6.8% | 8.5% |

Each month runs from the last close of the month before. The first month counts from the first close.

## How risky is IEMG compared with the S&P 500?

Measured from October 2021 to October 2026, on the days both traded.

- **Beta 0.78.** When the S&P 500 moved 1% in a day, IEMG tended to move about 0.78%.
- **Correlation 0.69.** IEMG moved with the S&P 500 some of the time.
- **Up and down months.** In months the S&P 500 rose, IEMG rose 70% as much on average. In months it fell, IEMG fell 77% as much.

| Measure | IEMG | S&P 500 (SPY) |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Return per year | 6.9% | 12.8% |
| Volatility | 19.4% | 17.1% |
| Worst drop | −32.7% | −24.5% |
| Sharpe ratio | 0.44 | 0.79 |
| Sortino ratio | 0.64 | 1.15 |
| Calmar ratio | 0.21 | 0.52 |

Volatility is how much the price swings in a year. The Sharpe ratio is return per unit of volatility, the Sortino ratio counts only the falls, and the Calmar ratio is the return per year over the worst drop. Higher ratios mean more return for the risk taken.

## Is IEMG above its 200-day average?

IEMG closed 0.7% below its 200-day average on October 16, 2026. A rule that holds IEMG only above that average would be out of it today.

- Its 50-day average is 5.3% above its 200-day average.
- It closed 10.7% below its highest close of the last 52 weeks.

A moving average is the average close over the last so many days. Trend rules such as [the 10-month moving average strategy](https://tactfolio.com/strategies/faber-10-month-moving-average.md) hold a fund only while it is above one. You can [build that rule for IEMG](https://tactfolio.com/builder) and backtest it in a minute.

## What was IEMG's worst drop?

A drawdown is how far a fund falls from its last high point. IEMG's worst fall was −38.7%, from January 26, 2018 to March 23, 2020. It got back to that high on November 16, 2020. On October 16, 2026 it was 10.7% below its highest close.

| Drop | Started | Bottom | Back to the high | Fall took | Recovery took |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| −38.7% | Jan 26, 2018 | Mar 23, 2020 | Nov 16, 2020 | 2.2 years | 8 months |
| −37.1% | Feb 16, 2021 | Oct 24, 2022 | Jul 17, 2025 | 20 months | 2.7 years |
| −34.4% | Sep 5, 2014 | Jan 20, 2016 | Jul 12, 2017 | 16 months | 18 months |
| −17.5% | Jan 2, 2013 | Jun 24, 2013 | Jun 10, 2014 | 6 months | 12 months |
| −13.8% | Jun 22, 2026 | Jul 29, 2026 | Not yet | 37 days | n/a |

Big drops are normal for some funds. They matter because selling during a drop locks in the loss.

## What does IEMG hold?

This fund owns thousands of companies in countries whose economies are still growing, such as China, India and Taiwan. These stock markets can rise and fall a lot. Changes in foreign currency values and local politics can also move its value.

It tracks the MSCI Emerging Markets Investable Market Index (USD) (Net). It had 2,857 holdings as of October 15, 2026, according to iShares (BlackRock).

| Fact | IEMG |
| --- | --- |
| Full name | iShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets ETF |
| Issuer | iShares (BlackRock) |
| Expense ratio | 0.09% a year |
| Started trading | October 18, 2012 |
| Tracks | MSCI Emerging Markets Investable Market Index (USD) (Net) |
| Type | Emerging market stocks, ETF |
| Holdings | 2,857 holdings as of October 15, 2026 |
| Facts checked | October 17, 2026 on the [iShares (BlackRock) fund page](https://www.ishares.com/us/products/244050/ishares-core-msci-emerging-markets-etf) |

## What is the IEMG expense ratio?

IEMG charges 0.09% a year. An expense ratio is the yearly fee a fund takes to run itself. On $10,000, a 0.09% fee comes to about $9 a year. Of the 162 ETFs on Tactfolio, 52% charge more.

You never get a bill for it. The fund takes the fee out of its own value a little each day.

## Which Tactfolio strategies hold IEMG?

No classic strategy holds IEMG yet. You can add it to your own rules in the [builder](https://tactfolio.com/builder) and see how they would have done.

## How does IEMG compare with similar ETFs?

Funds that can stand in for IEMG:

- [SCHE](https://tactfolio.com/etf/SCHE.md): Schwab Emerging Markets Equity ETF, 0.06% a year
- [VWO](https://tactfolio.com/etf/VWO.md): Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets ETF, 0.06% a year
- [EEM](https://tactfolio.com/etf/EEM.md): iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF, 0.72% a year
- [VEU](https://tactfolio.com/etf/VEU.md): Vanguard FTSE All-World ex-US ETF, 0.04% a year

See [all 6 IEMG alternatives](https://tactfolio.com/alternatives/IEMG.md), compared on the same dates as IEMG.

## Test IEMG in your own rules

Tactfolio is a platform where you build rules-based investing strategies, backtest them on decades of real prices, share them, and run them automatically in your own Alpaca account. Open the [builder](https://tactfolio.com/builder), add IEMG, and see how a rule such as "hold it only above its 200-day average" would have done. Strategies run on daily prices and hold US stocks and ETFs only.

## The details

Prices come from Tactfolio's stored daily prices for IEMG and SPY. Each close is adjusted for splits, and dividends are reinvested on the day the fund pays them out. CAGR is the steady yearly return that turns the starting value into the ending value. Volatility is the yearly standard deviation of daily returns. Beta and correlation compare daily returns with the S&P 500 over the same dates.

Fund facts come from iShares (BlackRock). We checked them on October 17, 2026. Read [what a backtest simulates](https://tactfolio.com/docs/backtests.md) and [how to read drawdown and CAGR](https://tactfolio.com/docs/concepts/reading-a-backtest.md) for more on these measures.

## Research and test it

- [What is an ETF](https://tactfolio.com/learn/what-is-an-etf): An ETF is a fund that trades like a stock. Learn how ETFs work, what they cost, the main types, and the risks, with SEC sources.
- [Momentum strategy](https://tactfolio.com/learn/momentum-strategy): A momentum strategy buys recent winners by a written rule.
- [ETF screener](https://tactfolio.com/screener.md): A free ETF screener for 162 US-listed funds. Filter by type, issuer and fee, sort by returns or worst drop, and compare funds side by side.
- [ETF expense ratio](https://tactfolio.com/learn/etf-expense-ratio): What an ETF expense ratio is, how the fund charges it, and how 0.03% vs 1% adds up over 10 and 30 years, with real fund examples.
- [Backtest a portfolio](https://tactfolio.com/trading-tools/backtest-portfolio): Backtest a portfolio of US stocks and ETFs. Enter tickers and shares, pick when to rebalance, and get the results with a link to share.
- [Backtesting](https://tactfolio.com/backtesting): Free backtesting software for stocks, ETFs, and crypto perps.

## Common questions

### What is the expense ratio of IEMG?

IEMG charges 0.09% a year, according to iShares (BlackRock) as of October 17, 2026. That is about $9 a year for every $10,000 you hold.

### When did IEMG start trading?

IEMG started trading on October 18, 2012. It is run by iShares (BlackRock).

### What does IEMG track?

IEMG tracks the MSCI Emerging Markets Investable Market Index (USD) (Net). This fund owns thousands of companies in countries whose economies are still growing, such as China, India and Taiwan.

### How much has IEMG returned per year?

From October 2012 to October 2026, IEMG returned about 6.0% a year with dividends reinvested. Its worst drop was −38.7%. Past returns do not tell you what it will do next.

### Is IEMG above its 200-day moving average?

On October 16, 2026, IEMG closed 0.7% below its 200-day moving average. This page updates after each US market close.

### Which strategies use IEMG?

None of Tactfolio's classic strategies hold IEMG yet. You can test it in your own rules in the builder.

## Sources

- [iShares (BlackRock): iShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets ETF fund page](https://www.ishares.com/us/products/244050/ishares-core-msci-emerging-markets-etf)

> Not financial advice. Tactfolio is a research and automation tool. It is not a broker or a financial adviser. This page is for education only. Backtests are hypothetical. They show how rules would have done on past prices, not how they will do. All investing involves risk, including losing the money you put in.