BRAZ vs EWZ

BRAZCGlobal X Brazil Active ETF

EWZAiShares MSCI Brazil ETF

In short

BRAZ Brazil, stock-picked. Global X launched BRAZ in 2023 as the only actively managed Brazil ETF on the US market: a couple dozen names chosen by an emerging-markets team rather than the weights a cap-weighted index hands you. Focused mandate, active price tag.

EWZ The Brazil trade in one ticker, running since 2000: about 50 of the country's biggest listed names, with index caps so no single giant swallows the fund. Large, heavily traded, and priced right at what Brazil funds typically charge.

Stated mandate

BRAZ The fund seeks long-term capital growth.

EWZ The fund seeks to track an index of Brazilian equities and provides targeted exposure to companies in Brazil.

Why people hold it

• BRAZ The active outlier on a shelf of Brazil index trackers. It doesn't replicate a benchmark, so managers set position sizes themselves instead of inheriting them.globalxetfs.com
• Concentrated on purpose: a high-conviction book of roughly two dozen Brazilian stocks, not a broad market sweep.prnewswire.com
• Run since its 2023 launch by Global X's emerging markets team, using parent Mirae's risk framework for position and sector limits.prnewswire.com
• The mandate is literal and the portfolio honors it: Brazilian equities, long-term capital growth, no style drift into neighboring markets.

• EWZ Has been running Brazil exposure since 2000 and hugs its MSCI Brazil 25/50 index closely, one of the stronger implementations in the Brazil group.
• A multi-billion-dollar fund and one of the most actively traded in its category, so size and spread are rarely the hard part of the trade.
• The index's 25/50 capping rules trim the largest weights, keeping a couple of Brazilian mega caps from quietly becoming the whole portfolio.ishares.com
• 0.59% a year, a touch under the typical Brazil fund's fee, with distributions paid quarterly.

Worth knowing

• BRAZ At 0.75% a year, it costs more than the typical Brazil fund and nearly four times the cheapest index option in the group (FLBR, 0.19%).
• Small asset base and thin trading volume, so spreads can widen. Limit orders and a look at the quote matter more here than with the category's household names.
• Roughly two dozen holdings in one emerging market means single-stock and single-country moves land hard. Distributions come annually or semiannually, not monthly.

• EWZ Cheaper Brazil beta exists: FLBR charges 0.19% against 0.59% here. The extra fee buys the deeper, busier market, not extra exposure.
• About 50 large Brazilian companies, one country, one policy cycle. Concentration is the point, and it cuts both ways.
• Brazilian shares, dollar-denominated fund: moves in the real feed into results on top of the market's own swings.

Full BRAZ profile⁠

Full EWZ profile⁠