Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets (Dist)
- Ticker
- VFEM
- Issuer
- Vanguard
- DEGIRO
- —
- Domicile
- IE
- Index tracked
- FTSE Emerging Markets
- Replication
- Optimised sampling
- Distribution
- distributing
- Base currency
- USD
- TER
- 0.22%
- Inception date
- 2012-05-22
- AUM (EUR)
- €3,000,000,000
- KID
- View PDF
- Last updated
- 8-11-2026
Allocation breakdown
Dividend leakage breakdown
Full breakdown — all regions
| Region | Weight | Div yield | WHT rate | Annual drag | Treaty / basis |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Taiwan | 16.0% | 3.20% | 21% | 10.8 bps | No Ireland–Taiwan DTA · statutory 21% |
| Other EM | 18.0% | 2.80% | 15% | 7.6 bps | Various |
| China | 26.0% | 2.50% | 10% | 6.5 bps | Ireland–China DTA · 10% |
| Brazil | 5.0% | 6.50% | 15% | 4.9 bps | Ireland–Brazil DTA · 15% |
| South Korea | 11.0% | 2.50% | 15% | 4.1 bps | Ireland–South Korea DTA · 15% (statutory 20%) |
| South Africa | 3.0% | 4.00% | 20% | 2.4 bps | South Africa dividend WHT · 20% |
| India | 17.0% | 1.20% | 10% | 2.0 bps | Ireland–India DTA · 10% |
| Saudi Arabia | 4.0% | 3.50% | 0% | 0 bps | Saudi Arabia: no dividend WHT |
| Total | 100% | 2.73% | — | 38.3 bps |
Tracking difference decomposition — why is the TD?
| + TER (published fund costs) | +0.220% |
| + Gross WHT drag (dividends withheld at source) | +0.383% |
| − NTR treaty benefit (benchmark assumes 20% WHT; fund pays less) | −0.130% |
| − Securities lending income (Vanguard Annual Report 2023) | −0.030% |
| = Implied tracking difference | +0.443% |
When NTR treaty benefit + lending income exceed TER + WHT drag, the tracking difference is negative — meaning the fund outperforms its benchmark index. This is the normal outcome for Irish-domiciled S&P 500 and MSCI World ETFs.
Gross WHT drag = what the fund actually pays in withholding tax on dividend income, relative to receiving 100% of dividends (a GTR benchmark).
Net vs NTR: FTSE Emerging Markets NTR deducts WHT at a standard non-resident rate (20% primary). Because Irish-domiciled funds pay treaty rates instead, the fund still bears net drag of 0.253% vs its benchmark.
Data sources: MSCI/FTSE index factsheets, ETF annual reports, Ireland Department of Finance DTA schedule. Portfolio weights and dividend yields are approximate (Q4 2024).
Dividend history
No issuer-published distribution history has been collected for this ETF yet. Ex-dates and per-unit amounts are transcribed from the fund provider's own disclosures with a source link, rather than taken from a market-data feed.
What Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets (Dist) actually holds
FTSE Emerging Markets covers emerging-economy large and mid-caps on FTSE's classification.
This fund holds roughly 1,400 companies and has been running for about 14 years, with USD as its base currency. That base currency is an accounting detail, not a risk you can avoid by buying a euro line — the underlying companies earn in their own currencies either way.
The fund holds a representative subset rather than every constituent — normal for indices with thousands of members, where buying the smallest names outright would cost more than the tracking error it saves.
FTSE and MSCI disagree about which countries count as emerging — South Korea is the long-standing example, treated as developed by FTSE and emerging by MSCI. Two 'emerging markets' funds from different index families are therefore not interchangeable.
What Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets (Dist) costs you each year
The ongoing charge of 0.22% is €22.00 per year on a €10,000 holding. It is taken inside the fund, so it never appears on a statement — which is exactly why it goes unnoticed for years at a time.
The more honest figure is the tracking difference: 0.10% — what the fund has actually cost against its index, after securities lending income and withholding-tax treatment. It can be smaller than the headline charge, and occasionally negative.
Comfortably large enough that closure is not a live concern and on-exchange liquidity is good.
Which listing to buy, and the 0.1% trap
DEGIRO charges 0.1% whenever a trade settles in a non-euro currency. Buying the euro line (VFEM NA) on Euronext Amsterdam or XETRA or Euronext Milan avoids it entirely. The fund’s own base currency is irrelevant here — only the currency of the line you trade counts.
How Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets (Dist) is taxed where you live
The same fund is a different proposition in each country, and the differences are large enough to change which share class you should own.
- Netherlands
- Box 3 taxes an assumed return on your wealth, not what this fund actually pays or gains: 6.00% deemed return taxed at 36%, above a tax-free threshold of €59,357. Accumulating and distributing funds are treated identically, so the choice between them is about reinvestment friction, not tax.
- Germany
- As a distributing fund each payout is taxed on receipt at Abgeltungsteuer, with 30% Teilfreistellung on an equity fund and the Sparer-Pauschbetrag applied first. No Vorabpauschale arises while the distributions cover it.
- Belgium
- Belgian stock-exchange tax (TOB) applies per side at 0.12% here — the low band. Reynders capital-gains tax does not apply, as the fund is not bond-heavy.
- Italy
- Imposta di bollo takes 0.20% of the holding every year, with no threshold and no exemption. Capital gains are taxed at 26%, and each distribution is taxed at 26% as it is paid, so the charge lands every year rather than at sale.
Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets (Dist): common questions
- Does Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets (Dist) pay dividends?
- Yes. Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets (Dist) is a distributing fund, so dividends are paid out to you in cash. Reinvesting them yourself means paying your broker's commission each time.
- How much does Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets (Dist) cost to hold?
- The ongoing charge is 0.22% per year, which is €22.00 a year on a €10,000 holding, deducted inside the fund rather than billed to you. Its measured tracking difference is 0.10%, which is what the fund has actually cost against its index — a more honest number than the headline charge.
- Is Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets (Dist) in DEGIRO's Core Selection?
- No — it is not in DEGIRO's Core Selection, so normal transaction fees apply on every purchase. For a monthly contribution that charge is a real drag on small amounts.
- Which listing of Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets (Dist) should I buy to avoid the currency fee?
- Buy the euro line (VFEM NA) on Euronext Amsterdam or XETRA or Euronext Milan. DEGIRO charges 0.1% when a trade settles in a non-euro currency, and the fund's own base currency (USD) is irrelevant to that — only the currency of the listing you trade matters.
- Why is Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets (Dist) domiciled in Ireland?
- Ireland's tax treaty with the United States reduces withholding tax on US dividends to 15% for a qualifying fund, against 30% without it. Since US companies are the largest block in most global and developed indices, that treaty rate is worth more to a European investor than a domestic domicile would be — it is the single biggest reason nearly every UCITS ETF sold in Europe is Irish.