Emerging Markets Leaders Fund

Share Class

Daily NAV (USD)

$12.48

As of 02/13/2026

Documents

Fact Sheet|

Prospectus|

Quarterly Review

Why Consider This Fund?

Approach

Invests in a high-conviction emerging markets portfolio of approximately 50 to 80 stocks that we believe demonstrate consistent value creation, competitive dominance, and sustainability of critical inputs
Focuses on structurally attractive consumer trends, which provides potential growth opportunities and broad exposure across emerging market countries
Offers deep expertise and a long history in managing emerging markets equities

Fund Facts

OTHER VEHICLES:

SEPARATE ACCOUNT

CIT

Fund Facts	As of 01/31/2026
Total Net Assets ($Million)	$102
Number of Holdings	54
Inception Date	03/26/2008
Expense Ratio (Gross)	1.23%
Expense Ratio (Net)	0.99%
Ticker Symbol	WBELX
CUSIP	969251404
Benchmark	MSCI Emerging Markets Index (net)
Morningstar Category	Diversified Emerging Mkts

The Fund's Adviser has contractually agreed to waive fees and/or reimburse expenses to limit fund operating expenses until 4/30/26.

Performance

Total Returns Calendar Year

AS OF DATE:|

Emerging Markets Leaders Fund

MSCI Emerging Markets Index (net)

Morningstar Diversified Emerging Mkts

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Fund	Inception	Month	YTD	1-YR	3-YR	5-YR	10-YR	Since Inception
		RETURN:As of 01/31/2026		AVERAGE ANNUAL RETURNS: As of 01/31/2026
Emerging Markets Leaders Fund Class I	03/26/2008	6.64%	6.64%	33.11%	11.96%	0.08%	8.05%	3.42%
MSCI Emerging Markets Index (net)	-	8.85%	8.85%	42.84%	16.74%	5.34%	10.08%	-
Morningstar Diversified Emerging Mkts	-	8.49%	8.49%	39.86%	15.93%	5.51%	9.39%	-

Performance cited represents past performance. Past performance does not guarantee future results and current performance may be lower or higher than the data quoted. Returns shown assume reinvestment of dividends and capital gains. Investment returns and principal will fluctuate with market and economic conditions and you may have a gain or loss when you sell shares. Class N shares are available to the general public without a sales load. Class I and Class R6 shares are available only to investors who meet certain eligibility requirements.

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Ratings and Rankings

As of: 01/31/2026

Morningstar Category: Diversified Emerging Mkts

Overall

705 Funds in Category

3-YR

705 Funds in Category

5-YR

619 Funds in Category

10-YR

462 Funds in Category

As of: 12/31/2025

Lipper Category: Emerging Markets Funds

1-YR

Rank: 577

727 Funds in Category

3-YR

Rank: 592

683 Funds in Category

5-YR

Rank: 540

600 Funds in Category

10-YR

Rank: 358

440 Funds in Category

Portfolio Characteristics

As of 01/31/2026

Portfolio Composition
Wgtd Avg Market Cap ($Billion)	$315.18
Median Market Cap ($Billion)	$20.81
P/E Ratio (Next 12 Months)	15.8
EPS Growth (Long-Term)	24.2%
Trailing 1-Year Turnover	77.5%
Cash	0.0%
Standard Deviation (10 Year)
Fund	16.85%
Index	16.47%

Top 10 Holdings	% of Fund
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited	15.3%
Tencent Holdings Limited	6.5%
SK hynix Inc.	5.5%
Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.	4.7%
Alibaba Group Holding Limited	3.7%
Nu Holdings Ltd.	3.1%
Bharti Airtel Limited	2.3%
NetEase, Inc.	2.3%
Contemporary Amperex Technology Co.,Ltd.	2.2%
HDFC Bank Limited	2.1%
Total	47.7%

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Portfolio Allocations

As of: 01/31/2026

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Range	% of Fund
> $20.0B	67.9%
$5.0B - $20.0B	22.2%
< $5.0B	9.9%
Total	100.0%

As of: 01/31/2026

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Sector	% of Fund	% Benchmark
Information Technology	31.1%	30.3%
Financials	21.5%	21.5%
Communication Services	12.5%	8.8%
Industrials	11.1%	7.1%
Consumer Discretionary	10.0%	11.2%
Health Care	4.3%	3.0%
Consumer Staples	3.6%	3.5%
Materials	3.1%	7.3%
Real Estate	2.8%	1.3%
Energy	0.0%	3.8%
Utilities	0.0%	2.2%
Exchange-Traded Funds	0.0%	0.0%
Total	100.0%

As of: 01/31/2026

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Geographic	% of Fund
Asia Ex-Japan	1.5%
Japan	0.0%
Europe Ex-U.K., Middle East	0.0%
United Kingdom	0.0%
Western Hemisphere	0.0%
Emerging Markets Totals	98.5%
Asia	74.6%
Europe, Mid-East, Africa	12.6%
Latin America	11.3%
Total	100.0%

Management

Paul Birchenough, Partner

Global Equity Director of Research, Portfolio Manager

Tenure with William Blair:Since

2024

View Bio

Hugo Scott-Gall, Partner

Head of the Global Equity Team, Portfolio Manager

Tenure with William Blair:Since

2018

View Bio

Ian Smith, Partner

Portfolio Manager

Tenure with William Blair:Since

2024

View Bio

Fund Literature

Fund Literature
Class I Fact Sheet
Quarterly Review
Commentary
Holdings
Fund Profile
Why Emerging Markets Equities Now?
Emerging Markets: 6 Key Themes for 2025

Prospectus and Reports
Prospectus
Annual Report
Semi-Annual Report

View More Resources

Please carefully consider the William Blair Funds’ investment objectives, risks, charges, and expenses before investing. This and other information is contained in the Funds’ prospectus and summary prospectus, which you may obtain by calling 1-800-742-7272. Read the prospectus and summary prospectus carefully before investing. Investing includes the risk of loss.

The William Blair Funds are distributed by William Blair & Company, L.L.C., member FINRA/SIPC.

Risks: The Fund involves a high level of risk and may not be appropriate for everyone. You should only consider it for the aggressive portion of your portfolio. The Fund’s returns will vary, and you could lose money by investing in the Fund. The Fund holds equities which may decline in value due to both real and perceived general market, economic, and industry conditions. Investing in securities of smaller companies tends to be more volatile and less liquid than securities of larger companies. International investing involves special risk considerations, including currency fluctuations, higher volatility, lower liquidity, economic and political risk. Investing in emerging markets can increase these risks. The securities of emerging market companies may be subject to greater volatility and less liquidity than companies in more developed markets. Individual securities may not perform as expected or a strategy used by the Adviser may fail to produce its intended result. Currency rates may fluctuate significantly over short periods of time and may reduce the returns of a portfolio. Convertible securities may be called before intended, which may have an adverse effect on investment objectives.

For most recent net asset values and year-to-date total return information, please click here.

Top ten holdings are shown as % of total net assets. Sector and market-cap diversification exclude cash equivalents. Information about the Fund’s holdings should not be considered investment advice. There is no guarantee that the Fund will continue to hold any one particular security or stay invested in any one particular sector. Holdings are subject to change at any time.

The Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) Emerging Markets Index (net) is a free float-adjusted market-capitalization-weighted index that is designed to measure equity market performance of emerging markets. The Index is unmanaged, does not incur fees or expenses, and cannot be invested in directly.

The Morningstar Diversified Emerging Markets Category represents the average annual composite performance of all mutual funds listed in the Diversified Emerging Markets Category by Morningstar.

The Morningstar Rating for funds, or "star rating", is calculated for managed products (including mutual funds, variable annuity and variable life subaccounts, exchange-traded funds, closed-end funds, and separate accounts) with at least a three-year history. Exchange- traded funds and open-ended mutual funds are considered a single population for comparative purposes. It is calculated based on a Morningstar Risk-Adjusted Return measure that accounts for variation in a managed product’s monthly excess performance, placing more emphasis on downward variations and rewarding consistent performance. The top 10% of products in each product category receive 5 stars, the next 22.5% receive 4 stars, the next 35% receive 3 stars, the next 22.5% receive 2 stars, and the bottom 10% receive 1 star. The Overall Morningstar Rating for a managed product is derived from a weighted average of the performance figures associated with its three-, five-, and 10-year (if applicable) Morningstar Rating metrics. The weights are: 100% three-year rating for 36-59 months of total returns, 60% five-year rating/40% three-year rating for 60-119 months of total returns, and 50% 10-year rating/30% five-year rating/20% three-year rating for 120 or more months of total returns. While the 10 year overall star rating formula seems to give the most weight to the 10-year period, the most recent three-year period actually has the greatest impact because it is included in all three rating periods.

©2025 Morningstar, Inc. All rights reserved.

Lipper Ratings are based on a Fund’s average annual total return.

Ratings and rankings are one measure of performance. Ratings may vary among share classes. Ratings reflect expense limitations in effect during the period, without such limitations returns would be lower. Past performance does not guarantee future results.

For your reference, this link contains additional notices and disclaimers required by our data suppliers.

Weighted Average Market Capitalization: Market capitalization refers to the total market value of each company’s outstanding shares. The Weighted Average Market Capitalization for a portfolio is calculated as the average market capitalization of the stocks within the portfolio, weighted by the amount of each stock owned. Unweighted Median Market Capitalization: This calculation represents the median market capitalization of the stocks in the portfolio, regardless of the amount of each stock owned. P/E (Price/Earnings) Ratio: This ratio is a measure of valuation. It relates the price of the stock to the earnings per share (EPS) of the company. A stock with a higher P/E ratio would be considered more expensive relative to another stock with a lower P/E. An investor may pay a higher P/E for a stock for several reasons including, but not limited to, an expectation that the company possesses higher returns on invested capital, less economic sensitivity, higher consistency of earnings and/or higher earnings growth potential. EPS (Earnings Per Share) Growth Rate (Projected): This measure represents the weighted average of forecasted growth in earnings expected to be experienced by the stocks within the portfolio over the next 3-5 years. From a portfolio perspective, the portfolio P/E ratio and EPS Growth Rate are weighted averages of the individual holdings’ P/E ratios and EPS Growth Rates. Trailing 1-Year Turnover: This figure reflects the portfolio’s trading activity by calculating the amount of the portfolio’s holdings bought or sold over the prior year, expressed as a percentage of the portfolio’s average market value. Turnover figures may be related to the amount of trading costs experienced by the portfolio. Standard Deviation: A measure of the portfolio’s risk. A higher standard deviation represents a greater dispersion of returns, and thus, a greater amount of risk. Standard deviation returns shown are annualized and calculated using monthly returns. Funds without a 10-year history are reported against the Fund’s inception date. If the Fund’s inception date does not fall on the first day of a given month, the annualized standard deviation is calculated based on the first day of the month following the Fund’s inception date.

Any investment or strategy mentioned herein may not be appropriate for every investor. There can be no assurance that investment objectives will be met. Products and services listed are available only to residents of this jurisdiction and may only be available to certain categories of investors. The information on this website does not constitute an offer for products or services, or a solicitation of an offer to any persons outside of this jurisdiction who are prohibited from receiving such information under applicable laws and regulations. Nothing on this webpage should be construed as advice and is therefore not a recommendation to buy or sell shares.

William Blair Investment Management, LLC is an investment adviser registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Investments

Insights

About

Emerging Markets Leaders Fund

Why Consider This Fund?

Approach

Fund Facts

Performance

Ratings and Rankings

Morningstar Category: Diversified Emerging Mkts

Lipper Category: Emerging Markets Funds

Portfolio Characteristics

Portfolio Allocations

Management

Fund Literature

Contact Us

Contact Us

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Investments

Insights

About

Performance

Ratings and Rankings

Morningstar Category: Diversified Emerging Mkts

Lipper Category: Emerging Markets Funds

Portfolio Characteristics

Portfolio Allocations

Management

Fund Literature

Contact Us

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WBELX

Emerging Markets Leaders Fund

Why Consider This Fund?

Approach

Fund Facts

Performance

Ratings and Rankings

Morningstar Category: Diversified Emerging Mkts

Lipper Category: Emerging Markets Funds

Portfolio Characteristics

Portfolio Allocations

Management

Fund Literature

Contact Us

Contact Us

Contact Us

Performance

Ratings and Rankings

Morningstar Category: Diversified Emerging Mkts

Lipper Category: Emerging Markets Funds

Portfolio Characteristics

Portfolio Allocations

Management

Fund Literature

Contact Us

Contact Us

Contact Us