BRAZ vs EWZS

BRAZCGlobal X Brazil Active ETF

EWZSBiShares MSCI Brazil Small-Cap 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.

EWZS Brazil past the blue chips. EWZS tracks the MSCI Brazil Small Cap Index, a compact basket of roughly 70 smaller Brazilian companies that the country's large-cap benchmarks are built to exclude.

Stated mandate

BRAZ The fund seeks long-term capital growth.

EWZS The fund seeks to track an index of small-cap Brazilian equities.

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.

• EWZS One job, done tightly: it follows the MSCI Brazil Small Cap Index and has hugged it closely, with no active drift or style creep.
• The 0.59% expense ratio sits at the middle of the Brazil ETF pack, and it's the same fee iShares charges on its large-cap Brazil fund (EWZ) for an easier slice.
• Running since 2010, one of the longest-lived ways to own Brazilian small caps in a US wrapper, and it distributes quarterly.
• Lands in the upper half of the small group of Brazil ETFs we cover, ahead of the other dedicated small-cap option (BRF).

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.

• EWZS Single-country small caps are a rough ride: Brazilian equity swings and real-versus-dollar currency moves both land in the same share price.
• Smaller and less heavily traded than the flagship Brazil funds, so spreads can run wider, especially outside Brazilian market hours.
• Cheaper Brazil exposure exists (FLBR at 0.19%), but it's the large-cap market, not this small-cap slice.

Full BRAZ profile⁠

Full EWZS profile⁠