EWD vs FEZ

EWDBiShares MSCI Sweden ETF

FEZAState Street SPDR EURO STOXX 50 ETF

In short

EWD Sweden in one ticker, and it has been doing that job since 1996. Roughly 40 Swedish stocks, tracked closely, at a fee below the median for European single-country funds.

FEZ Fifty eurozone blue chips, one ticker, running since 2002. FEZ is the long-standing US-listed route into the euro area's biggest companies, and it charges well below the typical index fund in its peer group.

Stated mandate

EWD The fund aims to follow an index made up of Swedish stocks.

FEZ The fund seeks to deliver total returns that generally correspond to the EURO STOXX 50 Index before fees and expenses.

Why people hold it

• EWD Trading since 1996, back when single-country ETFs were a brand-new idea. Decades of live record to judge, not a back-test.
• 0.51% a year undercuts the 0.56% median for its European single-country peer group.
• Sticks close to its MSCI Sweden 25/50 benchmark, one of the stronger implementations in a small European peer group.
• Moderately traded with iShares plumbing behind it, so routine buys and sells rarely turn into an expedition.

• FEZ Charges 0.29% a year against a 0.45% median for index-tracking funds in its cohort.
• Trading since 2002 and among the more actively traded names in its group, so the cost of getting in and out tends to be modest on top of the fee.
• Simple job, plainly stated: match the EURO STOXX 50 Index before fees. About 50 holdings, quarterly distributions, no tilts or overlays bolted on.
• A $1B-$5B fund from SPDR with a clean structural record and no red flags on the wrapper, which is rare staying power for a single-region equity product.

Worth knowing

• EWD About 40 stocks in one small open economy. A handful of Swedish heavyweights carry a lot of the weight here.
• The holdings trade in Swedish krona, so currency moves against the dollar feed straight into your dollar return, either direction.
• Not the cheap seat in the neighborhood: Global X's DAX runs 0.20% and iShares' own Switzerland fund, EWL, 0.50%.

• FEZ About 50 names in one currency bloc. That concentration puts it at the more volatile end of its peer group, and a few European mega-caps drive a lot of the result.
• It's a regional slice, not a whole-market holding. Broad global trackers such as VT run 0.06% and reach far wider.
• Returns arrive through euro-area shares, so the euro-dollar exchange rate is part of the ride for a US investor. Nothing in the mandate hedges it away.

Full EWD profile⁠

Full FEZ profile⁠