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Korea and Taiwan made the year in markets not everyone calls developed

The median of 37 developed single-country funds only matched the S&P 500, and the biggest Korea fund is down 22% in price since June 30.

ETF.net Research

Updated Oct 28, 2026, 11:03 AM ET

A sweeping view of the modern Taipei skyline at sunset, anchored by the towering Taipei 101 skyscraper.

Key takeaways

South Korea and Taiwan made the year, with the largest Korea fund returning 70.7%.
The biggest Korea fund is down 22% in price after a gain made before June.
The median developed single-country fund only matched the S&P 500 this past year.
Index providers do not call both Korea and Taiwan developed, yet both made the year.
Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix largely drove South Korea's rally with memory-chip profits.

South Korea and Taiwan made the year in the 37 U.S.-listed exchange-traded funds we group as developed single-country funds. The index providers do not call both of those markets developed.

The iShares MSCI South Korea ETF EWY, the largest at $23.2 billion, returned 70.7% over the 12 months through Tuesday, Oct. 27, including dividends. The iShares MSCI Taiwan ETF EWT returned 67.5%.

Those two, plus Franklin Templeton's Franklin FTSE South Korea ETF FLKR and Franklin Templeton's Franklin FTSE Taiwan ETF FLTW, hold 52.5% of the group's $79 billion.

The median of the 37 returned 13.6%. State Street SPDR S&P 500 ETF SPY returned 13.5%, and the iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF AGG lost 1.2%.

Who calls Korea and Taiwan developed

Both of the largest funds are iShares MSCI products. EWY tracks an MSCI index of Korean stocks.

CNBC reported that MSCI's June 23 review kept South Korea classified as an emerging market, with the won's limited convertibility offshore still a barrier. That means foreign investors cannot freely exchange the currency outside Korea.

FTSE Russell's list of Oct. 6 classifies South Korea as developed and Taiwan as advanced emerging, not developed. This group includes the Taiwan funds anyway.

FLKR tracks FTSE, which calls the market developed, and charges 0.09% against 0.59% for EWY. It returned 71.4% over those 12 months, and FLTW, at 0.19%, returned 69.6%. The cheaper Korea fund did not have a different year.

Technology was half of Korea and most of Taiwan

As of Tuesday, iShares reported technology at 51.6% of EWY and 72.9% of EWT.

Huileng Tan wrote in Business Insider on Oct. 12 that South Korea's rally "was driven largely by Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, whose soaring memory-chip profits made them among the biggest winners of the AI boom."

Canada rose together. The United Kingdom, Germany and France did not.

The three Canada funds in the group hold $20.4 billion, and all three returned between 21.9% and 22.4% over the same 12 months, including dividends. J.P. Morgan's JPMorgan BetaBuilders Canada ETF BBCA returned 22.4%. The iShares MSCI Canada ETF EWC returned 21.9%, and Franklin Templeton's Franklin FTSE Canada ETF FLCA returned 22.1%.

The iShares MSCI United Kingdom ETF EWU returned 13.5% over those months. The iShares MSCI Germany ETF EWG returned 1.4%, and the iShares MSCI France ETF EWQ lost 5.2%.

Korea and Taiwan funds returned 67% to 71%; Canada, 22%

12-month total return through Oct. 27, 2026

FLKR
Median · +13.6%
+71.4%
EWY+70.7%
FLTW+69.6%
EWT+67.5%
BBCA+22.4%
FLCA+22.1%
EWC+21.9%
EWU+13.5%
EWG+1.4%
EWQ−5.2%

France is the only decline; the U.K. sits on the median.

Korea's gain came before June

The 70.7% includes dividends, and it belongs to a holder who owned EWY for the full 12 months. In price, the fund fell 9.5% from June 30 to Sept. 30 and another 13.9% through Tuesday, Oct. 27, when it closed at $157.46.

EWT rose 3.9% in price in the third quarter and fell 5% from Sept. 30 through Tuesday. From the June 30 close it is down 1.3% in price.

EWY fell in both the third quarter and October

Price return, June 30–Sept. 30 and Sept. 30–Oct. 27, 2026