EPU vs EWM

EPUCiShares MSCI Peru and Global Exposure ETF

EWMBiShares MSCI Malaysia ETF

In short

EPU Peru in one ticker. iShares has run this since 2009, tracking a capped MSCI Peru index that holds only about two dozen names, and the fund's own title flags exposure reaching beyond Lima-listed shares.

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

EPU The Fund seeks to track an equity index with exposure to Peru, specifically the MSCI All Peru Capped Index.

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

Why people hold it

• EPU Launched in 2009, a long run for a single-country emerging-market fund, and still run by iShares.
• No clever overlay. It samples the MSCI All Peru Capped Index, a capped design that limits how large any single name gets in the basket.ishares.com
• Priced at 0.59%, the middle of its single-country emerging-market cohort. Same sticker as the iShares Poland (EPOL) and South Africa (EZA) funds.
• Lands in the upper half of its single-country emerging-market peer group on our review.

• 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

• EPU Around 25 holdings in one emerging market. That is a concentrated slice of the world, and it moves with a handful of large names rather than a broad economy.
• Moderately traded rather than heavily traded, so bid-ask spreads deserve a look before an order goes in.
• Distributions land once or twice a year, not monthly. Fine for total-return holders, lumpy for anyone budgeting off payouts.

• 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 EPU profile⁠

Full EWM profile⁠