EWL vs FEZ

EWLBiShares MSCI Switzerland ETF

FEZAState Street SPDR EURO STOXX 50 ETF

In short

EWL One US-listed ticker for Switzerland's blue chips: roughly 40 names, franc exposure included, running since 1996. A concentrated slice of a defensive market rather than a broad Europe fund.

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

EWL The fund seeks to track the MSCI Switzerland 25/50 Index (Net), an index representing Swiss equities.

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

• EWL 0.50% a year, below the median fee in its single-country Europe peer group.
• Listed since 1996 and now a multi-billion-dollar fund that trades at a moderate clip. Not a thin, fragile ticker.
• Plain wiring: it tracks the capped MSCI Switzerland 25/50 index, no currency hedge and no factor tilt bolted on.
• Ranks in the upper half of its single-country Europe cohort, ahead of hedged and factor-tilted takes on the region.

• 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

• EWL Roughly 40 stocks, and the index's capping rules only limit how far the biggest names run. Concentration is the price of pure Swiss exposure.
• No currency hedge, so Swiss franc moves against the dollar flow straight into results, unlike hedged cousins such as HEDJ.
• Single-country funds carry single-country fees: 0.50% is friendly for this group, but the cheapest name in it, DAX, runs 0.20%.

• 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 EWL profile⁠

Full FEZ profile⁠