EWM vs EWW

EWMBiShares MSCI Malaysia ETF

EWWAiShares MSCI Mexico ETF

In short

EWM Malaysia in one ticker, running since 1996. EWM tracks the MSCI Malaysia index, a cap-weighted slice of Kuala Lumpur's largest listed companies, and charges less than the typical single-country emerging markets fund.

EWW Mexico in one ticker, doing that job since 1996. Roughly 40 of the country's biggest listed names, capped so no single company runs the show, for 0.50% a year.

Stated mandate

EWM The fund seeks to track an index composed of Malaysian equities.

EWW The fund seeks to track an index composed of Mexican equities and provides targeted exposure to companies in Mexico.

Why people hold it

• EWM Listed in 1996, which puts it among the oldest ETFs still trading. Nearly three decades of doing one job: hold Malaysian equities, track the index.ishares.com
• 0.50% a year, under the median for its single-country emerging markets peer group and below iShares siblings EPOL and EZA at 0.59%.
• Sits in the upper tier of the single-country emerging markets funds we grade, helped by a low fee and a milder volatility profile than much of that group.
• No guesswork about the mandate: BlackRock builds it as a way to express a single-country view on Malaysian companies, and the index name is right on the tin.ishares.com

• EWW 0.50% a year, below the typical single-country emerging-market fund. Cheap is not the pitch here, but you are not paying a premium for the exposure.
• A billion-dollar-plus fund that trades actively, which is why it has long been the default way US investors get Mexico exposure in a brokerage account.
• The 25/50 index rules keep any one issuer from swallowing the portfolio, a real safeguard in a market where a handful of giants dominate the exchange.ishares.com
• Tracks its MSCI Mexico index tightly and ranks among the strongest builds in the single-country emerging-market group.

Worth knowing

• EWM Market-cap weighting in a modest-sized market means a short list of Kuala Lumpur heavyweights drives most of the fund's day-to-day move.stockanalysis.com
• One country, one currency. The holdings trade in ringgit and the fund is unhedged, so currency moves against the dollar land in your return alongside the stocks.ishares.com
• Volume is moderate rather than deep, and payouts arrive once or twice a year instead of quarterly. Limit orders are the friendlier way in and out.

• EWW About 40 stocks, one country, one currency. Peso moves and Mexican politics land straight in the return, with no diversification to soften them.
• FLMX tracks Mexico for 0.19%. If cost is the deciding factor, that gap is the trade-off against EWW's deeper trading and longer track record.
• Distributions come once or twice a year, not monthly. This is an equity exposure vehicle, not a steady income line.

Full EWM profile⁠

Full EWW profile⁠