Touchstone Sands Capital Emerging Markets ex-China Growth ETF

Touchstone Sands Capital Emerging Markets ex-China Growth ETF (TEMX) is an actively managed fund in which Sands Capital picks 25 to 45 growth companies in emerging and frontier markets, leaving out China and Hong Kong. It is concentrated: its 10 largest positions, led by Samsung Electronics and TSMC, held 57% of assets as of June 30, 2026. At 0.80% a year, it costs far more than the index-based iShares fund EMXC, at 0.25%.

• Over the year to Oct 27, 2026, TEMX returned +11.3%, 7th of 7 among similar funds.
• The deepest fall in its price history was 16.9% (Jun 22, 2026 to Oct 26, 2026), not yet recovered.

As of Jun 30, 2026, the fund held 40 securities; the ten largest made up 56.97% of assets.

• Over the three months to Jun 30, 2026, investors added a net $704K (creations minus redemptions, per the N-PORT report).
• Monthly total returns reported for that quarter: +16.78%, +11.34%, +3.18%.

TEMX does not track an index. Sub-adviser Sands Capital invests at least 80% of assets in companies in emerging or frontier markets, excluding China and Hong Kong, that it sees as having above-average growth potential. Emerging means any country outside the MSCI World Index of developed markets; frontier countries, such as Vietnam, come from the MSCI Frontier Markets Index. A company qualifies if it is based or mainly traded there, or earns at least half its revenue or profit there.

Sands Capital picks stocks “bottom-up,” studying businesses rather than countries or sectors, so country and sector weights can end up lopsided. It looks for durable growth, market leadership, competitive advantages, financial strength and a reasonable valuation, and weighs environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues when they could affect value. The fund holds 25 to 45 companies, aiming to keep them three to five years on average; turnover, the share of holdings replaced in a year, was 26%.

Being non-diversified, it can bet heavily on single companies: Samsung Electronics was 13.7% of assets as of June 30, 2026. It holds some stocks as depositary receipts, which trade outside home markets; Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing appears as both local shares (10.3%) and US-listed receipts (4.6%). It may also use derivatives such as participatory notes to reach certain markets, but held none then.

• TEMX charges 0.8% a year, versus an average of 0.54% for the similar funds below (6th of 7, cheapest first).
• Of that, 0.74% is the management fee; the rest covers other fund expenses.
• The fee includes a 1.92% waiver from the adviser, which may end.
• Using the prospectus's standard example, $10,000 invested would cost about $82 in the first year and $2,910 over 10 years (assuming a 5% annual return).

It is a concentrated, actively managed emerging-markets stock fund with a one-year beta of 1.58 and no recorded distributions, traits better suited to a small side position than a portfolio's foundation.

TEMX could add growth companies in South Korea (29.2% of assets as of June 30, 2026), Taiwan (23.1%) and India (17.5%) to a US-focused portfolio. Its record is short: launched February 24, 2025, it has no history from the 2008, 2020 or 2022 downturns and no full calendar year of returns. Its deepest drop, 16.9% from June 22 to October 26, 2026, was unrecovered as of October 27, 2026; someone forced to sell during a slide like that to cover spending would be selling low.

No distributions have been recorded, so it provides no income. Its 0.80% expense ratio tops the 0.54% average of six similar funds, and the SEC's $10,000 cost example climbs from $82 after one year to $2,910 after 10 years, suggesting its 1.92% fee waiver is temporary. Past results don't predict future returns, and a plan needs to consider the whole portfolio, not one fund.

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