COLO vs EWM

COLODGlobal X MSCI Colombia ETF

EWMBiShares MSCI Malaysia ETF

In short

COLO Colombia, in one ticker. Running since 2009, COLO tracks an MSCI index of roughly two dozen Colombian stocks with capping rules that stop any single issuer from swallowing the fund. Concentrated by design, not by accident.

EWM Malaysia in one ticker, running since 1996. EWM tracks the MSCI Malaysia index, a cap-weighted slice of Kuala Lumpur's largest listed companies, and charges less than the typical single-country emerging markets fund.

Stated mandate

COLO COLO seeks to track, before fees and expenses, the price and yield performance of the MSCI All Colombia Select 25/50 Index.

EWM The fund seeks to track an index composed of Malaysian equities.

Why people hold it

• COLO A pure Colombia play with history behind it: listed since 2009 and still tracking the country's equity market by holding the index itself.globalxetfs.com
• The benchmark applies MSCI's 25/50 capping rules, a guardrail on how far one issuer can stretch inside a basket of roughly two dozen names.globalxetfs.com
• No manager guesswork: it is passively run and fully replicates the index, and the adviser does not take defensive positions when the market falls.sec.gov

• EWM Listed in 1996, which puts it among the oldest ETFs still trading. Nearly three decades of doing one job: hold Malaysian equities, track the index.ishares.com
• 0.50% a year, under the median for its single-country emerging markets peer group and below iShares siblings EPOL and EZA at 0.59%.
• Sits in the upper tier of the single-country emerging markets funds we grade, helped by a low fee and a milder volatility profile than much of that group.
• No guesswork about the mandate: BlackRock builds it as a way to express a single-country view on Malaysian companies, and the index name is right on the tin.ishares.com

Worth knowing

• COLO At 0.62% a year it runs above the 0.59% median for single-country emerging market funds, and far above the cheapest of them (FLMX charges 0.19%).
• One country, a couple dozen stocks, and officially non-diversified: single-name, peso and political swings land with full force here.globalxetfs.com
• Assets are modest and trading is moderate by ETF standards, which usually means wider spreads than the giants of the single-country shelf.

• EWM Market-cap weighting in a modest-sized market means a short list of Kuala Lumpur heavyweights drives most of the fund's day-to-day move.stockanalysis.com
• One country, one currency. The holdings trade in ringgit and the fund is unhedged, so currency moves against the dollar land in your return alongside the stocks.ishares.com
• Volume is moderate rather than deep, and payouts arrive once or twice a year instead of quarterly. Limit orders are the friendlier way in and out.

Full COLO profile⁠

Full EWM profile⁠