BNY Mellon Emerging Markets Equity ETF

BNY Mellon Emerging Markets Equity ETF (BKEM) is an index fund that tracks the Solactive GBS Emerging Markets Large & Mid Cap USD Index NTR. That index holds large and mid-size companies in countries such as Taiwan, South Korea, India and China. The fund's main draw is cost: it charges 0.11% a year, while similar funds average 0.38%. The trade-off is size: it had about $89 million in assets as of July 31, 2026, far less than its rivals.

• Over the year to Oct 27, 2026, BKEM returned +13.7%, 4th of 9 among similar funds.
• Its 5-year annualized return was +6.4%.
• Its worst full calendar year was 2022 (-19.4%); its best was 2025 (+30.6%).
• The deepest fall in its price history was 37.3% (Feb 23, 2021 to Oct 24, 2022), recovered by Sep 8, 2025.

As of Jul 31, 2026, the fund held 1,797 securities; the ten largest made up 35.51% of assets.

• Over the three months to Jul 31, 2026, investors added a net $4.2M (creations minus redemptions, per the N-PORT report).
• Monthly total returns reported for that quarter: +9.36%, -1.58%, -3.38%.

BKEM tracks the Solactive GBS Emerging Markets Large & Mid Cap USD Index NTR. "NTR" stands for net total return, which means the index counts dividends after foreign withholding taxes. At each review, the index ranks the eligible stocks in each emerging market country by size. It keeps the stocks that make up roughly the top 85% of that country's free-float market value, which counts only the shares available to outside investors. Each stock is weighted by that value, so the biggest companies count the most. The index is rebuilt twice a year, in May and November. As of Dec. 31, 2025, it held 2,165 securities from countries ranging from Brazil to the United Arab Emirates. About 33.7% was in information technology and 23.4% in financials.

The fund doesn't have to buy every stock in the index. Its sub-adviser, Mellon, generally buys a representative sample instead. As of July 31, 2026, the fund owned 1,797 securities. It may also hold depositary receipts (certificates that stand for foreign shares), other ETFs, futures, currency forwards, total return swaps and structured notes. Portfolio turnover was 56.4%.

Because weights follow company size, a few names dominate. The top ten holdings made up 35.5% of assets as of July 31, 2026. The fund is classified as diversified, but it may become non-diversified if the index's weights shift.

• BKEM charges 0.11% a year, versus an average of 0.38% for the similar funds below (3rd of 9, cheapest first).
• Using the prospectus's standard example, $10,000 invested would cost about $11 in the first year and $141 over 10 years (assuming a 5% annual return).

It adds large and mid-size companies from emerging markets such as Taiwan, South Korea, India and China, which a portfolio built mostly on US stocks lacks.

BKEM could add stocks from Taiwan, South Korea, India and China that a US-focused portfolio lacks, and it does so at low cost. Under the SEC's standard example, its 0.11% expense ratio works out to about $11 in the first year on a $10,000 investment. Income is modest. The trailing yield was 1.23% as of Oct. 27, 2026, paid twice a year.

The fund launched in April 2020, after the COVID crash, so it has no record for 2008 or 2020. In the 2022 bear market it fell 30.1% and took about 24 months to recover. Its deepest drop was 37.3%, and it took about 34.5 months to recover, finally doing so in September 2025. Its worst calendar year was 2022, when it lost 19.6%. Anyone who had to sell shares or draw income during a stretch like that would have locked in losses. Past results don't predict the future, and a plan should look at the whole portfolio, not one fund.

Matched by holdings overlap from the latest N-PORT reports.