Columbia EM Core ex-China ETF

Columbia EM Core ex-China ETF (XCEM) aims to match the Beta Thematic Emerging Markets ex-China Index. It holds stocks from developing economies but leaves out China and Hong Kong. As of June 30, 2026, it leaned heavily on Taiwan and South Korea, and Taiwan Semiconductor alone was about 14.9% of assets. Its annual fee of 0.16% is below the 0.25% charged by its closest rival, iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ex China ETF (EMXC), though XCEM is far smaller.

• Over the year to Oct 27, 2026, XCEM returned +29.2%, 1st of 9 among similar funds.
• Its 5-year annualized return was +10.6%.
• Its worst full calendar year was 2022 (-17.6%); its best was 2025 (+34.0%).
• The deepest fall in its price history was 29.6% (Jun 4, 2021 to Oct 14, 2022), recovered by Jul 2, 2024.

As of Jun 30, 2026, the fund held 451 securities; the ten largest made up 37.44% of assets.

• Over the three months to Jun 30, 2026, investors added a net $111.2M (creations minus redemptions, per the N-PORT report).
• Monthly total returns reported for that quarter: +17.33%, +13.71%, -0.84%.

XCEM aims to match the price and yield performance, before fees, of the Beta Thematic Emerging Markets ex-China Index. The index covers companies in emerging market countries, meaning economies in the middle stages of development. It leaves out companies based in China or Hong Kong and any stock listed on a Chinese exchange. The fund can own small, mid-sized and large companies. It buys them on local exchanges or as depositary receipts, which are certificates that represent shares of foreign companies.

The manager, Columbia Management Investment Advisers, usually uses "representative sampling." This means it owns a selection of index stocks chosen to behave like the whole index, rather than every stock in it. As a result, the fund's returns may drift from the index's. At least 80% of net assets must be in index companies, and the fund generally expects to have 95% or more there. When a stock is dropped from the index, the fund usually sells it, though it may keep it until the fund's next rebalancing.

The fund's country and sector weights follow the index's. As of March 31, 2026, that meant heavy exposure to financials and information technology. As of June 30, 2026, the fund held 451 stocks. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing made up 14.9% of assets, Samsung Electronics 9.7% and SK hynix 4.6%. Taiwan (34.1%), South Korea (26.3%) and India (13.9%) were the largest countries. Most assets are priced in foreign currencies, so changes in the dollar affect returns.

• XCEM charges 0.16% a year, versus an average of 0.25% for the similar funds below (5th of 9, cheapest first).
• Using the prospectus's standard example, $10,000 invested would cost about $16 in the first year and $205 over 10 years (assuming a 5% annual return).

It offers emerging-market stocks outside China but leans heavily on Taiwan, South Korea and a few chipmakers, so its swings can be large.

XCEM could add emerging-market stocks outside China alongside broader funds, but it is concentrated: as of June 30, 2026, Taiwan was 34.06% of assets and South Korea 26.32%. It launched in 2015, so it has no 2008 record. Its worst quarter was a 31.31% drop during the early-2020 COVID crash. Its worst calendar year was 2022, when it lost 17.99%. In the 2022 market slump it fell 29.3%, part of its deepest drop of 29.6%. It took about 21 months from the late-2022 low to recover. Cashing out for spending in a stretch like that would lock in losses.

Its yield, based on the past year's payouts, was 2.59% as of October 27, 2026, paid once a year. It costs 0.16% a year, or $16 on $10,000 in year one under the SEC's standard example. 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.