EWG vs FLGB

EWGBiShares MSCI Germany ETF

FLGBAFranklin FTSE United Kingdom ETF

In short

EWG Germany in one ticker, and it has been doing that job since 1996. Roughly 50 large German companies, tracked closely, at a fee a hair under the typical single-country fund.

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

EWG The fund seeks to track an index of German equities, providing targeted exposure to companies in Germany.

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

Why people hold it

• EWG Trading since 1996, it is one of the original single-country ETFs, and it stays actively traded with billions in assets behind it.
• Sticks closely to its benchmark, the MSCI Germany Index, so the index is a fair read on what the fund is doing.
• The 0.49% fee lands just under the typical developed single-country fund, and it buys the German blue-chip market in one trade.
• Rated among the stronger implementations in its developed single-country peer group.

• 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

• EWG About 50 stocks in one economy: a handful of German industrial and financial giants carry much of the weight.
• Cheaper entries into single-country developed markets exist (Franklin's FLAU charges 0.09%), though they track different countries.
• Distributions land once or twice a year, not monthly.

• 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 EWG profile⁠

Full FLGB profile⁠