EWA vs FLGB

EWABiShares MSCI Australia ETF

FLGBAFranklin FTSE United Kingdom ETF

In short

EWA Trading since 1996, EWA is the veteran way to own Australia from a US brokerage account: roughly 50 of the market's biggest listed names, tracking the MSCI Australia Index, in one ticker.

FLGB Britain in one ticker for nine basis points. Franklin's UK tracker follows a capped FTSE index of roughly 110 British companies and charges a small fraction of what the typical index fund in its peer group costs.

Stated mandate

EWA The fund seeks to track an index of Australian equities, providing targeted exposure to companies in Australia.

FLGB The fund seeks to track, before fees and expenses, the performance of the FTSE UK RIC Capped Index.

Why people hold it

• EWA Live since 1996, so its record spans multiple market cycles rather than one lucky stretch.
• Sticks closely to the MSCI Australia Index it promises, one of the tighter mandate deliveries among developed single-country funds.
• A multi-billion-dollar fund that changes hands actively every day, unlike the thin end of the country-ETF shelf.
• At 0.50% a year, it sits right at the going rate for developed single-country funds.

• FLGB 0.09% a year, a fraction of the median fee across the index trackers we grade. Cheap is the whole pitch for single-country beta, and this one delivers it.
• One trade, roughly 110 UK companies. A passive, rules-based mandate tied to the FTSE UK RIC Capped Index, running since its 2017 launch.
• Stands in the top quartile of its plain-index-wrapper peer group, and the mandate data behind that read is high confidence.

Worth knowing

• EWA Cheaper Australia exposure exists: Franklin's FLAU charges 0.09% for the same country, using a FTSE index instead of MSCI.
• One country, about 50 stocks. Concentration cuts both ways, and the ride is bumpier than a globally diversified fund.
• Distributions land annually or semiannually, not monthly, so income arrives in lumps.

• FLGB Single-country by design: UK listings only, so there is no cushion from other markets inside the fund. Broad global trackers like VT spread that bet differently.
• Moderately traded rather than a volume monster, so limit orders are the sane way in and out.
• Distributions arrive once or twice a year, not monthly. Income lands in lumps.

Full EWA profile⁠

Full FLGB profile⁠