Vanguard and iShares Dominate as International Small-Caps Outpace Large-Cap Peers

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Weekly Channel Summary

The Global Ex-U.S. Size & Style ETF channel concluded the week of January 23, 2026, with a total Assets Under Management (AUM) of $1,614 billion, spanning 325 ETFs from 91 distinct brands. The channel experienced robust investor interest, pulling in $9.42 billion in net weekly flows. This continues a strong start to the year, with Year-to-Date (YTD) flows reaching $27.23 billion, while the past year has seen a massive $196.51 billion in net new money.

This Week’s Performance Leaders and Laggards

Small and Mid-Cap categories dominated the performance landscape this week. The Equity: Global Ex-U.S. Small | Mid Cap category led the way with a 1.83% week-to-date (WTD) return, closely followed by Emerging Small | Mid Cap at 1.80%. Conversely, the Large Cap Growth and Blend segments lagged behind, both posting modest gains of 0.73%. On a YTD basis, all categories remain firmly in positive territory, with Global Ex-U.S. Small | Mid Cap leading the pack at 6.12%.

Category Performance Snapshot

Category WTD 1 Month 3 Month 6 Month YTD 1 Year
Equity: Global Ex-U.S. Small | Mid Cap 1.83% 6.05% 9.90% 15.69% 6.12% 43.46%
Equity: Emerging Small | Mid Cap 1.80% 5.92% 5.75% 8.62% 5.52% 25.22%
Equity: Emerging Large Cap 1.56% 6.78% 9.64% 18.15% 7.85% 36.93%
Equity: Global Ex-U.S. Large Cap – Value 1.18% 4.32% 9.99% 15.12% 4.26% 40.23%
Equity: Global Ex-U.S. Large Cap – Blend 0.73% 4.34% 7.73% 12.50% 4.43% 32.14%
Equity: Global Ex-U.S. Large Cap – Growth 0.73% 4.89% 6.92% 10.99% 5.24% 25.03%

At the individual fund level, FTHF (First Trust Emerging Markets Human Flourishing ETF) stood out as the top performer across the emerging markets segment with a 3.93% return. In the Global Ex-U.S. segment, GVAL (Cambria Global Value ETF) led with a 3.35% return. On the lagging side, currency-hedged strategies such as HEFA (-1.37%) and DBEF (-0.96%) saw the most significant weekly declines.

Top & Bottom 5 Global Ex-U.S. ETFs by Weekly Performance

Ticker Fund Name WTD Performance
Top Performers
GVAL Cambria Global Value ETF 3.35%
FPXI First Trust International Equity Opportunities ETF 3.24%
FDT First Trust Developed Markets ex-US AlphaDEX Fund 3.23%
AVDV Avantis International Small Cap Value ETF 3.18%
AADR AdvisorShares Dorsey Wright ADR ETF 3.11%
Bottom Performers
HEFA iShares Currency Hedged MSCI EAFE ETF -1.37%
DBEF Xtrackers MSCI EAFE Hedged Equity ETF -0.96%
BCIL Bancreek International Large Cap ETF -0.92%
IHDG WisdomTree International Hedged Quality Dividend Growth Fund -0.81%
PJIO PGIM Jennison International Opportunities ETF -0.71%

Top & Bottom 5 Emerging Market ETFs by Weekly Performance

Ticker Fund Name WTD Performance
Top Performers
FTHF First Trust Emerging Markets Human Flourishing ETF 3.93%
DVYE iShares Emerging Markets Dividend ETF 3.78%
EDOG ALPS Emerging Sector Dividend Dogs ETF 3.49%
MFEM PIMCO RAFI Dynamic Multi-Factor Emerging Markets Equity ETF 3.39%
FEMS First Trust Emerging Markets Small Cap AlphaDEX Fund 3.17%
Bottom Performers
EMDV ProShares MSCI Emerging Markets Dividend Growers ETF -0.72%
EMC Global X Emerging Markets Great Consumer ETF -0.06%
BKF iShares MSCI BIC ETF 0.00%
EEMO Invesco S&P Emerging Markets Momentum ETF 0.26%
EMES Harbor Emerging Markets Select ETF 0.38%

Analyzing the Weekly Flows

The channel attracted $9.42 billion in total net inflows this week. The Emerging Large Cap category was the primary beneficiary, securing $5,219 million in net new money and bringing its total AUM to $400.8 billion. Global Ex-U.S. Large Cap – Blend also saw significant traction with $3,062 million in inflows. On the other end of the spectrum, the Emerging Small | Mid Cap category experienced a slight drag with $2 million in net outflows.

Category Flows Summary

Category Fund Count AUM 5 Day 30 Day 90 Day YTD 1 Year
Equity: Emerging Large Cap 100 $400.8B $5,219M $14,337M $29,747M $14,020M $51,529M
Equity: Global Ex-U.S. Large Cap – Blend 122 $985.6B $3,062M $12,639M $44,160M $9,761M $119,022M
Equity: Global Ex-U.S. Large Cap – Value 52 $122.4B $603M $2,608M $6,218M $2,230M $20,383M
Equity: Global Ex-U.S. Small | Mid Cap 19 $63.5B $321M $896M $5,429M $806M $8,544M
Equity: Global Ex-U.S. Large Cap – Growth 26 $38.8B $212M $650M $1,231M $413M ($2,573M)
Equity: Emerging Small | Mid Cap 6 $3.2B ($2M) ($7M) ($6M) $4M ($392M)

Individual flow leadership was led by the emerging markets heavyweight IEMG (iShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets ETF), which gathered $1,915 million. In the Global Ex-U.S. space, VXUS (Vanguard Total International Stock ETF) topped the list with $701 million in inflows. On the downside, EEMV saw the largest overall outflow of $279 million, followed by BBIN at $45 million.

Top & Bottom 5 Global Ex-U.S. ETFs by 5-Day Flow

Ticker Fund Name 5-Day Flow
Inflows
VXUS Vanguard Total International Stock ETF $701M
VEA Vanguard FTSE Developed Markets ETF $525M
VEU Vanguard FTSE All-World ex-US Index Fund $507M
FENI Fidelity Enhanced International ETF $312M
SPDW SPDR Portfolio Developed World ex-US ETF $298M
Outflows
BBIN JPMorgan BetaBuilders International Equity ETF ($45M)
EDGI 3EDGE Dynamic International Equity ETF ($22M)
IQDG WisdomTree International Quality Dividend Growth Fund ($21M)
CIL VictoryShares International Volatility Wtd ETF ($11M)
BIDD iShares International Dividend Active ETF ($7M)

Top & Bottom 5 Emerging Market ETFs by 5-Day Flow

Ticker Fund Name 5-Day Flow
Inflows
IEMG iShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets ETF $1,915M
VWO Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets ETF $1,504M
EEM iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF $1,040M
AVEM Avantis Emerging Markets Equity ETF $377M
AVES Avantis Emerging Markets Value ETF $153M
Outflows
EEMV iShares MSCI Emerging Markets Min Vol Factor ETF ($279M)
DGRE WisdomTree Emerging Markets Quality Dividend Growth Fund ($27M)
SEEM SEI Select Emerging Markets Equity ETF ($3M)
FEMS First Trust Emerging Markets Small Cap AlphaDEX Fund ($2M)
TEMX Touchstone Sands Capital Emerging Markets Select ETF ($1M)

Issuer League Table Update

iShares and Vanguard continue to dominate the Global Ex-U.S. landscape, controlling 39.11% and 33.71% of the market share, respectively. Vanguard gathered the most weekly inflows with $3,400 million, while iShares followed closely with $3,195 million. Among the top issuers, WisdomTree saw the largest weekly outflows, losing $45 million in net assets.

Top 5 Issuers by AUM

Brand Fund Count AUM AUM Market Share
iShares 41 $631.42B 39.11%
Vanguard 9 $544.17B 33.71%
Schwab 7 $109.37B 6.77%
Dimensional 15 $86.82B 5.38%
SPDR 12 $58.34B 3.61%

Top & Bottom 3 Issuers by 5-Day Flow

Brand 5-Day Flow
Inflows
Vanguard $3,400M
iShares $3,195M
Avantis $845M
Outflows
WisdomTree ($45M)
3Edge ($22M)
JPMorgan ($16M)

For a deeper dive into these trends, access our FREE, in-depth ETF reports in the right side panel of this page.

Disclosures

This material is for informational purposes only and should not be considered investment advice. All investments, including ETFs, involve risk, including the possible loss of principal. Investors should consider their investment objectives, risks, charges, and expenses carefully before investing.

This analysis was developed by the team at ETF Action. We leverage advanced AI tools to assist in the drafting and refinement of our content, based on our expert prompts, direction, and final review.