Pictet to list fifth AI-enhanced ETF, an emerging-market fund with 0.30% fee

Pictet Asset Management is adding a fifth fund to its AI Enhanced Equity Index range with a 0.30% total expense ratio. The Pictet AI Enhanced Emerging Equity UCITS ETF, ticker PQEM, is scheduled to list on Xetra, Borsa Italiana and SIX on 14 October 2026, and on the London Stock Exchange on 15 October, according to the announcement. Its primary listing is on Xetra in euros; the Borsa Italiana and SIX listings are in euros and Swiss francs, and the London listing is in US dollars.

The fund targets outperformance of its benchmark index of about 1% a year net of fees, with tracking error targeted at up to 2% and a beta of 1.0. A beta of 1.0 means returns are designed to move broadly in line with the market. Pictet says PQEM applies the same investment process as the other four funds in the range, all launched earlier this year.

Pictet's proprietary AI model drives stock selection, paired with automated portfolio optimisation. A quantitative team oversees the model, runs quarterly training cycles and monitors the portfolio; Pictet describes the output as a factor-neutral strategy independent of market and economic cycles.

An earlier AI-model strategy arrived at SIX in September without a published expense ratio. PQEM's 0.30% figure is stated up front in the launch material.

Pictet says its active ETFs have raised more than $1 billion since their global debut, and the firm puts the AI Enhanced range at more than $750 million since launch. "The strong demand we have seen for our AI Enhanced range, with more than USD750 million raised since launch, shows how investors are increasingly looking to AI to deliver that extra return above the benchmark at a low cost," said David Wright, head of quantitative investments.

Wright said emerging markets are a natural fit because that is where the ability to spot complex patterns that humans cannot see adds the most value. Broad emerging-market benchmarks hold more than 45% of their country weight in Taiwan and South Korea and a quarter of their assets in three semiconductor names, as this publication reported in September. Pictet's stated claim is that the AI model offers a different source of alpha from traditional factor-based enhanced-index approaches.