CXSE vs MCH

CXSEAWisdomTree China ex-State-Owned Enterprises Fund

MCHCMatthews China Active 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.

MCH A stock-picker's China fund from an Asia-focused boutique: roughly 60 Chinese common and preferred shares chosen name by name rather than copied from an index. Launched in 2022.

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.

MCH The fund seeks long-term capital appreciation while investing at least 80% of net assets in common and preferred stocks of companies located in China, including Hong Kong and Macau.

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.

• MCH Genuinely active, not index-shadowing: about 60 holdings, with at least 80% of net assets in common and preferred stocks of companies located in China, Hong Kong and Macau.
• Mandate discipline is the strong suit. The portfolio has stayed squarely inside the China brief its prospectus describes, with no drift into the broader Asia region.
• Run by Matthews Asia, a shop built around Asian equity research rather than a full-line issuer bolting on a China sleeve.

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.

• MCH Active management costs here: 0.79% a year against a 0.70% median for China funds, with index rivals like FLCH at 0.19% and active JCHI at 0.15%.
• One of the smaller, less-traded names in the China group, so spreads tend to be wider than at the category giants and limit orders carry more weight.
• Concentrated single-country exposure in roughly 60 stocks, so Chinese policy and market swings land with full force. Distributions come once or twice a year at most.

Full CXSE profile⁠

Full MCH profile⁠