WELNX Fees and Costs — William Blair Emerging Markets Leaders Fund, Class N

Data updated: 2026-08-14

The net expense ratio is 1.24%: a 0.94% management fee, a 0.25% 12b-1 fee plus 0.35% other expenses, less a 0.30% fee waiver. There are no sales loads or redemption fees. In fiscal 2025 the fund paid $234K in broker commissions, 0.1631% of average net assets, and portfolio turnover was 79%.

WELNX Fees and Expenses

Annual operating expenses and sales charges of WELNX. Prospectus, as of December 31, 2025.

Annual operating expenses
Management fee0.94%
12b-1 fee0.25%
Other expenses0.35%
Gross expense ratio1.54%
Fee waiver−0.30%
Net expense ratio1.24%
Sales charges
Max front load0.00%
Max deferred load—
Redemption fee0.00%
Expense limitation in place (N-CEN)Yes
Fees waived or reduced during the yearYes
Waived fees subject to recoupmentNo

WELNX Costs Over Time

On $10,000 invested in WELNX, assuming 5% a year before costs, total costs come to $871 over 5 years, cutting the return by 1.47% a year. Illustration, not a forecast: it assumes today's net expense ratio throughout (a fee waiver may end).

$10,000 investedSell after 1 yearSell after 3 yearsSell after 5 years
Value before costs$10,500$11,576$12,763
Fund expenses (net expense ratio 1.24%)$130$405$699
Trading costs (broker commissions)$17$53$92
Lost growth on money paid in costs$0$23$80
Total costs$147$480$871
Value after costs$10,353$11,096$11,892
Impact on return, per year1.47%1.47%1.47%

WELNX Trading Costs

Brokerage costs reported on SEC Form N-CEN for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2025.

  • Explicit cost rate (commissions ÷ average net assets): 0.1631%
  • Total broker commissions: $234K
  • Bought from dealers (principal trades, not a cost): $368.2M
  • Portfolio turnover (prospectus): 79%
  • Securities lending: none during the year

WELNX Agency Brokers

Commissions paid.

BrokerAmountShare
BofA Securities, Inc.$56K28.72%
J.P. Morgan Securities LLC$36K18.34%
Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC$34K17.24%
CLSA Americas, LLC$24K12.47%
Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC$10K4.96%
CICC US Securities, Inc.$9K4.56%
SG Americas Securities, LLC$7K3.85%
Jefferies LLC$7K3.53%
TD Securities (USA) LLC$7K3.49%
Citigroup Global Markets Inc.$6K2.83%

WELNX Dealer Counterparties

Securities bought directly from dealers (principal trades).

BrokerAmountShare
State Street Bank and Trust Company$366.7M99.58%
Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC$1.2M0.32%
HSBC Securities (USA) Inc.$335K0.09%

William Blair Emerging Markets Leaders Fund Share Classes

Net expense ratio and maximum front-end load of each share class, cheapest first.

TickerClassNet expense ratioFront load
WELIXClass R60.94%none
WBELXClass I0.99%none
WELNXClass N1.24%none

For information only. Not investment advice: figures are as reported in SEC filings and may contain errors or be out of date. Past performance does not guarantee future results.