EWC vs GLCR

EWCAiShares MSCI Canada ETF

GLCRFGlacierShares Nasdaq Iceland ETF

In short

EWC A 1996 original: Canada's large and mid caps in one ticker, back when single-country funds were still a novelty. About 80 names, held through a capped MSCI index built so one giant can't swamp the basket.

GLCR Iceland, in one ticker. GLCR tracks a MarketVector index of Icelandic companies and firms tied to Iceland's economy, roughly 30 names deep, wrapped in a plain-vanilla US ETF that launched in 2025.

Stated mandate

EWC The fund seeks to track an index representing Canadian equities, providing exposure to large- and mid-sized companies in Canada.

GLCR GLCR seeks to track, before fees and expenses, the total return of an index covering equity securities of Icelandic companies and companies related to Iceland’s economy.

Why people hold it

• EWC Running since 1996, which makes it one of the oldest US-listed ETFs still trading, and it is a multi-billion-dollar fund today.
• Tracks the MSCI Canada Custom Capped Index closely, one of the tighter index-following records in its single-country developed peer group.ishares.com
• Actively traded with among the easiest fills in its peer group, so the cost of getting in and out stays modest.
• The capped index trims outsized single-name weights, so roughly 80 holdings stay a basket rather than a wager on two or three giants.ishares.com

• GLCR Pure single-country Iceland equity exposure through a rules-based index (MarketVector Iceland Global Total Return Net), not a manager's stock picks.
• The mandate reaches past domicile: the index covers Icelandic companies plus companies tied to Iceland's economy, which widens a very shallow home market.
• Ordinary 1940 Act fund structure holding stocks, so it trades and reports like any other equity ETF (no partnership wrapper, no derivatives sleeve).

Worth knowing

• EWC At 0.50%, the fee sits right at the median for single-country developed funds, and cheaper Canada exposure exists: BBCA runs 0.19%.
• One country, about 80 stocks: a concentrated slice of the world, with Canadian dollar moves riding along in your US-dollar return.ishares.com
• Distributions land once or twice a year rather than monthly or quarterly, so income arrives in lumps.

• GLCR At 0.95% a year, the fee runs close to double the median for single-country developed-market ETFs, the price of reaching a market nobody else indexes.
• Small asset base and light trading. Spreads can be wider than in the big country funds like EWC or EWU, so how you enter matters more than usual.
• About 30 holdings in one small economy. Concentration cuts both ways, and the 2025 launch means no record across a full market cycle yet.

Full EWC profile⁠

Full GLCR profile⁠