EPU vs FLMX

EPUCiShares MSCI Peru and Global Exposure ETF

FLMXBFranklin FTSE Mexico 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.

FLMX Mexico exposure at a discount. Franklin's tracker charges 0.19%, a fraction of what single-country emerging-market funds usually cost, and holds a compact basket of the country's largest listed companies.

Stated mandate

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

FLMX The Fund seeks to track the performance of the FTSE Mexico Capped Index before fees and expenses through an indexing strategy, investing at least 80% of assets in index components or related exposure.

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.

• FLMX At 0.19%, one of the cheapest wrappers for Mexican equities: well under the roughly 0.59% median in its single-country EM cohort, and under EWW's 0.50%.
• Plain, rules-based mandate: it tracks the FTSE Mexico Capped Index, keeping at least 80% of assets in index components or related exposure. No manager guesswork.
• The index is a capped one, which limits how much of the portfolio any single Mexican mega-cap can occupy.
• Live since 2017 and, on our review, one of the stronger implementations among single-country emerging-market funds.

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.

• FLMX Thinly traded. Spreads can run wider than at the category's busiest funds, which adds to the real cost of getting in and out beyond the headline fee.
• One country, roughly 40 stocks. Concentration is the point, but it means Mexican policy, oil and peso moves all land straight in a dollar-based return.
• Income arrives quarterly, not monthly.

Full EPU profile⁠

Full FLMX profile⁠