A mutual fund or exchange-traded fund that invests the majority of its assets in the financial markets of a single developing country or a group of developing countries. For the most part, these countries are in Eastern Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Latin America, the Far East and Asia.

A developing country is characterized as being vulnerable to political and economic instability, having low average per-capita income, and of being in the process of building its industrial and commercial base. The "emerging market" label has been adopted by the investment community to identify developing countries with superior growth prospects. The potential for rewarding investment opportunities in this category of fund comes with relatively high risk.