Freedom 100 Emerging Markets ETF (FRDM)
FRDM: All You Need To Know About This Niche EM ETF
The Freedom 100 Emerging Markets ETF targets EM equities with high civil, political, and economic freedom scores, avoiding autocracies and state-owned enterprises. FRDM's portfolio is tech-heavy, with 55% concentrated in South Korea and Taiwan, and the top 10 holdings comprising 57% of assets. FRDM offers a 0.49% expense ratio, quarterly distributions, and trades at a 25-30% valuation discount to global markets, but exhibits high volatility and tracking error.
FRDM Is A Strategy On EMs That Almost Doubles The Return
Freedom 100 Emerging Markets ETF (FRDM) employs a semi-quantitative, freedom-weighted selection strategy, resulting in a concentrated active portfolio with 79% active share versus MSCI EM. FRDM has outperformed top passive EM ETFs by at least 1.64x, driven by high exposure to semiconductors and exclusion of China and state-owned enterprises. The ETF's largest holdings are semiconductor stocks, creating both significant upside from sector momentum and heightened risk if the memory supercycle reverses.
FRDM: Are Emerging Market Equities Driving The U.S. Market?
The Freedom 100 Emerging Markets ETF leverages 'freedom-weighting' to select and allocate equities from 24 emerging market countries. FRDM excludes state-owned enterprises (over 20% state ownership) and prioritizes personal and economic freedom metrics in its portfolio construction. With $2.97 billion AUM and a 0.49% expense ratio, FRDM has outperformed the market since inception, even during recent U.S. market stagnation.
FRDM: Capturing New Trends In Emerging Markets
Freedom ETFs' FRDM ETF targets emerging markets with high economic freedom, offering a differentiated approach to EM investing. FRDM invests in countries with compelling valuations and strong growth prospects, often outpacing the broader MSCI Emerging Markets index. The ETF avoids state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and focuses on governance, liquidity, and country-specific risks to enhance long-term returns.
FRDM: Emerging Market Alpha, Thanks To Some Country Wagers
FRDM ETF has outperformed major emerging market benchmarks due to strategic overweights in Poland, Chile, Korea, and tech, while avoiding China and India. The fund's low valuation (12.4x earnings, PEG 1.3x) and strong technicals support its recent alpha, but liquidity is a concern with a wide bid/ask spread. Despite stellar momentum and a bullish long-term trend, bearish RSI divergence and seasonal weakness suggest caution in the near term.
FRDM: The Best Emerging Market ETF You're Not Holding
FRDM ETF offers unique diversification by focusing on emerging markets ranked by freedom, reducing political risks and lowering correlation with US markets. The fund excludes authoritarian regimes like China, prioritizing transparency and freedom, which has improved returns and drawdown management versus traditional EM ETFs. FRDM's sector and country allocations—favoring Taiwan, South Korea, and Chile—capitalize on macro resilience and global tech trends, despite omitting China and underweight India.
FRDM: Investing In The Free World (No BRICS, Please)
The Freedom 100 Emerging Markets ETF uses a "freedom-weighted" strategy to outperform traditional market-weighted EM funds by excluding regimes like China and Russia. FRDM's methodology filters 24 emerging market countries based on liquidity, market cap, and freedom scores, resulting in a diversified portfolio of around 100 stocks. The fund's higher volatility is offset by its positive upside and downside capture, making it suitable for aggressive investors seeking targeted EM exposure.
This ETF provider thinks it's time to rethink investing in China
Investors may want to reduce their exposure to the world's largest emerging market.
Meet an Advisor: Michael Garry
Evan Harp sat down with Michael Garry, founder and CEO of Yardley Wealth Management. Evan Harp: When and how did your practice begin?
FRDM: Emerging Markets ETF Excluding China And India
Freedom 100 Emerging Markets ETF focuses on investing in about 100 companies from emerging markets based on a Freedom Score. The FRDM ETF is concentrated in large cap companies, with heavy exposure to Taiwan and overweight in the technology sector. FRDM has outperformed EEM and ex-China EM ETFs since its inception in 2019.
FRDM: The Emerging Market Alpha Is In Liberty
The Freedom 100 Emerging Markets ETF focuses on investing in emerging markets that score well on personal and economic freedoms. The FRDM ETF's portfolio is heavily invested in Taiwan, South Korea, and Poland, with top holdings in semiconductors, battery technology, and financial services. FRDM stands out from other similar ETFs by excluding China from its portfolio and has performed strongly as a result.
New Emerging Markets ETF to Avoid Potential National Security Threats
In 2023, many people have had concerns about investing in broad emerging markets index ETFs. For some, this is based on fundamentals for Chinese stocks but for others it's national security.
FRDM ETF: Freedom As An Alternative EM Investing Strategy
The Freedom 100 Emerging Markets ETF focuses on investing in countries that protect civil liberties and economic freedoms. The fund's exclusion of China highlights its relatively unique strategy that has impressively outperformed in recent years. We believe the fund can work in the context of a broader diversified portfolio for exposure to this important market segment.
FRDM: Low-Yielding EM ETF Focusing On Right Sectors In Taiwan And South Korea
Freedom 100 Emerging Markets ETF invests in emerging markets of Taiwan, South Korea, and Chile. Not surprisingly, it is highly focused on metals, technology, and financial sectors. My understanding is that FRDM is betting on the growth potential of lithium-ion, semiconductors, electronics manufacturing, and the future technologies. Despite being a futuristic fund, FRDM has generated strong-enough returns over the long run. However, it fails to generate satisfactory and consistent yield.
FRDM: Emerging Markets Are Hated So Much It May Be Time To Buy
FRDM: Emerging Markets Are Hated So Much It May Be Time To Buy
Partake In The FRDM To Outperform In Emerging Markets
Emerging markets are likely to outperform the benchmarks in the long term; however, not all emerging markets are equal. Evidence suggests that emerging markets in politically liberal regimes experience more growth than emerging markets in illiberal regimes.
Freedom ETF Challenger Among Latest Fund Proposals
Filings roundup: Calamos plans industry comeback; new iShares, Amplify and more.
‘Just so full of autocracies': For the Freedom 100 Emerging Markets ETF, outperformance in 2022 goes beyond nixing China
Hi! In this week's ETF Wrap, Life + Liberty Indexes founder Perth Tolle weighs in on why emerging-markets funds that exclude China don't go far enough, as well as on the Freedom 100 Emerging Markets ETF's performance this year.
5 Emerging Market ETFs That Limit China Investments
Emerging market exchange-traded funds that limit exposure to China may be a better bet for investors as China's stocks get battered.
Nadig Appears on ETF Edge to Talk Emerging Markets, Value Investing, Crypto, and More
VettaFi Financial Futurist Dave Nadig joined Wes Crill and host Bob Pisani on CNBC's ETF Edge to discuss a grab bag of topics ranging from emerging markets, to value investing, to cryptocurrency. Over the past few weeks, $50 billion flowed into the market, broadly leaning on U.S. equity and fixed-income.