CQQQ vs MCHI

CQQQCInvesco China Technology ETF

MCHIAiShares MSCI China ETF

In short

CQQQ The tech sector, minus Silicon Valley. Trading since 2009, CQQQ tracks a FTSE index of Chinese technology companies, roughly 180 of them, instead of the US megacaps that fill almost every other tech fund.

MCHI The default one-ticker way to own China. MCHI has tracked the MSCI China Index since 2011, holding roughly 600 stocks open to international investors, and it stays actively traded.

Stated mandate

CQQQ The Fund seeks to track, before fees and expenses, the investment results of the FTSE China Incl A 25% Technology Capped Index.

MCHI The fund seeks to track an index of Chinese equities available to international investors.

Why people hold it

• CQQQ One of the original US-listed ways to own Chinese tech as a standalone sleeve: launched in 2009, now a multi-billion-dollar fund that trades actively.
• Roughly 180 holdings spread across the sector, and the index reaches into mainland A-shares, not just the offshore-listed Chinese names most investors already know.
• Undiluted by design: the mandate is Chinese technology only, so the exposure isn't watered down the way it is inside a global tech or broad emerging-markets fund.

• MCHI One ticker, roughly 600 Chinese stocks. Instead of picking among share classes and listings, you get the MSCI China Index (Net) in a single line item.ishares.com
• 0.59% expense ratio, below the middle of the single-country China pack, and the fund has hewed closely to its stated index mandate.
• Running since 2011 and now a multi-billion-dollar fund that trades actively, which is why it turns up as the reference China holding in so many portfolios.
• One of the stronger implementations in its peer group on tradability and staying power, both scored in the top tier of the China cohort.

Worth knowing

• CQQQ The 0.65% fee sits above the 0.40% median in its broad tech peer group, and well above index giants like VGT and XLK. That is the toll for a harder-to-reach market.
• One country, one sector. Beijing policy shifts, currency moves and listing rules land on this portfolio much more directly than on a US-centric tech fund.
• Cash comes once or twice a year, not monthly or quarterly. This is a growth-sector vehicle, not an income one.

• MCHI Cheaper broad-China options exist: FLCH charges 0.19% and JPMorgan's active JCHI 0.15%. You are paying up for MCHI's depth and liquidity.
• Single-country equity risk, undiluted. Chinese regulation, currency and policy swings hit the whole basket at once, and the index leans heavily on its biggest names.
• Distributions come once or twice a year, not monthly, so cash flow arrives in lumps.

Full CQQQ profile⁠

Full MCHI profile⁠