EPOL vs EZA

EPOLBiShares MSCI Poland ETF

EZABiShares MSCI South Africa ETF

In short

EPOL Poland in one ticket. Running since 2010, EPOL holds roughly 30 Polish stocks under MSCI's 25/50 capping rules, and it sits in the upper tier of single-country emerging-market funds.

EZA Since 2003, the plain US-listed way to own the Johannesburg market: about 27 large and mid-cap South African stocks, with index caps keeping any one corporate group from taking over the portfolio.

Stated mandate

EPOL The fund seeks to track an index composed of Polish equities.

EZA The fund seeks to track an index made up of South African equities.

Why people hold it

• EPOL One trade, one market: the fund tracks an index of Polish equities, the MSCI Poland IMI 25/50 Index, instead of burying Poland inside a broad emerging-markets basket.ishares.com
• The 25/50 capping in the index limits how much of the portfolio any single stock or cluster of large names can occupy, a real issue in a market this narrow.ishares.com
• Open since 2010 with an iShares operating history behind it, and it ranks among the stronger single-country emerging-market funds in our coverage.
• At 0.59% a year, the fee lands right at the median for single-country emerging-market ETFs. Standard toll for niche access, not a premium.

• EZA Listed since 2003, it is the long-running US-listed pure play on South African equities: one ticker instead of a pile of Johannesburg listings and ADRs.ishares.com
• The 25/50 index rules cap any single company group at 25% of the index and hold all 5%-plus groups to 50% combined, so no one Johannesburg giant can swallow the fund.msci.commsci.com 2
• The index targets the large and mid-cap core of the market, roughly 85% of South Africa's free-float value. You get the country's benchmark, not a stock picker's guess.msci.com
• At 0.59% the fee sits right at the median for single-country emerging-market ETFs, and the fund stands among the stronger implementations in that group.

Worth knowing

• EPOL About 30 holdings in one country. Concentration is the design, so Polish banks, policy and politics drive the ride more than any stock-picking cushion.
• Returns come home in dollars, so zloty moves against the dollar land in your result alongside what Polish shares actually do.ishares.com
• Cheaper tickets exist in the cohort (FLMX runs 0.19%), but they buy different countries. Within Poland exposure, the fee is what it is.

• EZA Around 27 holdings, with miners and financials doing most of the work. Concentration is the whole point of a single-country fund, and it cuts both ways.ishares.com
• The stocks trade in rand, the fund reports in dollars. Currency moves ride along with the share prices, in both directions.ishares.com
• 0.59% is normal for a single-country fund but well above broad emerging-market index funds, and cash comes back once or twice a year, not quarterly.

Full EPOL profile⁠

Full EZA profile⁠