EIMI is iShares' Core MSCI EM IMI UCITS ETF — the entire emerging-market complex in one line, from Taiwanese chipmakers to Chinese internet giants to Indian IT. The honest take: it's 0.18% TER, accumulating, and holds more than 3,000 stocks, but it isn't a portfolio on its own. Its job is to be the emerging-markets sleeve you bolt onto a developed-world core like IWDA to build your own all-world — and set the EM weight yourself instead of accepting a fixed slice.
What's inside
| Ticker | Name | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| TSM | Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd | 11.48% |
| TCEHY | Tencent Holdings Ltd | 3.34% |
| BABA | Alibaba Group Holding Ltd | 2.21% |
| INFY | Infosys Ltd | 1.00% |
| JD | JD.com Inc | 1.00% |
The first thing to notice is the top line. Taiwan Semiconductor is 11.48% of the fund — one company, more than a tenth of the entire emerging world by this index's weighting. Nothing else comes close: Tencent is 3.34%, Alibaba 2.21%, and after that the basket flattens into a long cluster of Chinese internet and Indian technology names — JD, Baidu, NetEase, Infosys, Wipro — each around or below 1%. By country the fund leans on Taiwan, China, India, and South Korea; by sector it's technology and internet first, financials second. The "IMI" in the name earns its keep: MSCI's Investable Market Index extends the standard large- and mid-cap emerging-markets benchmark down into small-caps, which is why the fund holds 3,067 names rather than the few thousand a narrower EM tracker would.
Costs and structure
The ongoing charge is 0.18% — €90 a year on a €50k position, and low for emerging-markets exposure specifically, a corner of the market that has historically carried higher fees than developed-market index funds. Replication is physical: iShares holds 3,067 of the index's constituents directly rather than tracking it through a swap, which for a market this fragmented is the harder, more honest way to do it. The fund is Irish-domiciled (ISIN IE00BKM4GZ66) and accumulates dividends inside the wrapper — no cash to redeploy, no tax event until you sell. Inception was 30 May 2014, so it has a real track record across the 2018 EM drawdown, the 2020 crash, and the China-tech regulatory rout of 2021–22. Base currency is USD with no hedge; on the LSE you buy it in dollars, but your real currency exposure is a basket of won, new Taiwan dollars, rupees, and renminbi. The benchmark is the MSCI Emerging Markets Investable Market Index, and the full breakdown is on iShares' factsheet.
Performance in context
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EIMI versus VWCE is the comparison that frames the decision. VWCE already contains emerging markets — a fixed slice blended into a single all-world line you never have to think about. EIMI is the pure version of that slice, with no developed-market ballast to cushion it. The bet, in one sentence: do you think emerging markets will outpace developed markets over your horizon, and do you want to express that view at a weight you choose? For most of the past decade the market's answer was no — US megacap ran away from everything, EM included. Whether the next decade rhymes is the actual question. Read the chart, don't extrapolate the last one.
Who buys it and why
EIMI is a building block, not a finished portfolio. The textbook use is the two-fund "build your own all-world": pair a developed-world core like IWDA with EIMI as the emerging-markets sleeve, and you control the EM weight directly instead of accepting whatever an all-world fund bakes in. It's one of the most common DIY portfolios in European retail for exactly that reason — a Trade Republic or Scalable Capital saver who wants global coverage but a heavier, or lighter, emerging-markets tilt than the all-world default. If you don't have a specific view on the EM weight, you don't need EIMI as a separate line — VWCE blends it for you and saves you a rebalancing decision.
Alternatives worth knowing
- VWCE — FTSE All-World in one fund, emerging markets already included. The choice if you'd rather not manage the EM weight yourself.
- IWDA — the developed-world core most EIMI holders pair it with; the two together rebuild a full all-world on your own terms.
- VWCE vs IWDA + EIMI — the head-to-head on whether one all-world fund or the two-fund DIY version wins once you account for cost and rebalancing.