iShares J.P. Morgan EM Corporate Bond ETF

iShares J.P. Morgan EM Corporate Bond ETF (CEMB) is an index fund that holds US dollar bonds issued by companies in emerging markets, from Chinese banks to Latin American oil producers. It holds both investment-grade and junk bonds and pays income monthly, with a 5.34% trailing yield as of October 27, 2026. Its 0.50% expense ratio is well above the 0.11% average of similar bond funds.

• Over the year to Oct 27, 2026, CEMB returned +0.1%, 3rd of 8 among similar funds.
• Its 5-year annualized return was +1.6% and its 10-year +3.1%.
• In the 2020 COVID crash it fell 20.8% and regained its old high 4.5 months after the low.
• Its worst full calendar year was 2022 (-12.6%); its best was 2019 (+13.8%).
• The deepest fall in its price history was 20.8% (Feb 21, 2020 to Mar 19, 2020), recovered by Aug 4, 2020.

As of Jul 31, 2026, the fund held 1,166 securities; the ten largest made up 3.13% of assets, and 6.48% sat in cash and money-market holdings.

The bonds mature in 7 years on average (weighted by size), with an average coupon of 5.67%.

• Over the three months to Jul 31, 2026, investors added a net $20.3M (creations minus redemptions, per the N-PORT report).
• Monthly total returns reported for that quarter: +0.35%, +0.38%, -0.71%.

The fund tracks the J.P. Morgan CEMBI Broad Diversified Core Index. The index holds US dollar bonds from companies in Latin America, Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia (excluding Japan). A bond qualifies if one of three things is true: the issuer is headquartered in an emerging market, the bond is fully guaranteed by an entity there, or all of the issuer's operating assets are there. A bond needs at least $500 million outstanding and 2.5 years to maturity to enter the index. It leaves once it has less than a year to go. The index has no credit-rating limits, so it mixes investment-grade bonds with junk bonds (lower-rated debt that pays more because default risk is higher).

Bonds are weighted by market value. However, J.P. Morgan caps countries with the most debt outstanding and shifts that weight to smaller ones. The index rebalances on the last business day of each month. As of October 31, 2025, it covered issuers in 55 emerging and frontier countries, mostly financial companies.

BlackRock does not buy every bond. It uses representative sampling, which means owning a subset that matches the index's duration (rate sensitivity), credit quality and yield. At least 80% of assets must be index bonds. The fund may hold privately placed Rule 144A and Regulation S bonds, and it may lend out up to a third of its assets.

• CEMB charges 0.5% a year, versus an average of 0.11% for the similar funds below (8th of 8, cheapest first).
• Using the prospectus's standard example, $10,000 invested would cost about $51 in the first year and $628 over 10 years (assuming a 5% annual return).

It pays monthly income from more than a thousand emerging-market corporate bonds, but its credit and emerging-market risks may suit a supporting slice better than a core bond position.

CEMB could add monthly income to the bond side of a portfolio. It paid $2.35 per share over the 12 months to October 27, 2026, a 5.34% yield. Its price swings more than its yield might suggest. In the 2020 COVID crash it fell 20.8% in under a month, though it was back to its old high by August 4, 2020. In 2022 it dropped 17.1% and took about 22 months to recover. Its worst calendar year was 2022, with a 12.3% loss. The fund launched in 2012, so there is no 2008 record. Anyone who had to sell shares in a slump like these would have locked in losses. Under the SEC's standard example, the 0.50% fee costs $51 in year one and $628 over 10 years on $10,000. Past results don't predict future ones, and a plan should look at the whole portfolio, not one fund.

Matched by bond funds with the closest average maturity and issuer mix (N-PORT).