CXSE vs ECNS

CXSEAWisdomTree China ex-State-Owned Enterprises Fund

ECNSBiShares MSCI China Small-Cap ETF

In short

CXSE CXSE tracks an index that screens state-owned enterprises out of China, leaving the privately run companies. A tilt toward entrepreneurs rather than Beijing's balance sheet, at a fee well under the typical China fund.

ECNS Most US-listed China funds fish in large-cap waters. ECNS works the other end of the market: an index of small-cap Chinese equities, roughly 300 of them, from iShares, running since 2010.

Stated mandate

CXSE The Fund seeks to track, before fees and expenses, the price and yield performance of the WisdomTree China ex-State-Owned Enterprises Index.

ECNS The fund seeks to track an index composed of small-cap Chinese equities.

Why people hold it

• CXSE The whole design is one screen: state-controlled companies out, privately run ones in, about 200 of them. Not a broad China index with a tweak.
• 0.32% a year, well under half the 0.70% median for single-country China funds.
• Trading since 2012, and one of the tighter, more faithful builds in a crowded China cohort.

• ECNS Tracks the MSCI China Small Cap Index, roughly 300 names, reaching the smaller Chinese companies that broad-market China funds such as MCHI and GXC largely leave out.ishares.com
• Expense ratio of 0.59%, below the median fee across its US-listed China peer group.ishares.com
• Live since September 2010, giving it a continuous record through several full China market cycles, and it sits in the upper half of its China cohort on our review.
• Spreads exposure across a wide basket rather than leaning on a handful of index heavyweights, so no single name drives the fund.

Worth knowing

• CXSE Thinly traded next to China heavyweights like MCHI and GXC, so limit orders matter more here.
• One country, about 200 stocks, and none of the state-backed heavyweights as ballast. Swings run bigger than a diversified global fund's.
• Cheap for the group, not the cheapest: FLCH (0.19%) and JCHI (0.15%) undercut it with different mandates.

• ECNS Thinly traded with a modest asset base, so spreads can be wider than in the household-name China funds. Limit orders do more work here.
• Single-country small caps are the volatile corner of an already volatile market, carrying China-specific regulatory and currency exposure.
• Distributions arrive annually or semiannually, not on a monthly schedule.

Full CXSE profile⁠

Full ECNS profile⁠