EWM vs EZA

EWMBiShares MSCI Malaysia ETF

EZABiShares MSCI South Africa 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.

EZA Since 2003, the plain US-listed way to own the Johannesburg market: about 27 large and mid-cap South African stocks, with index caps keeping any one corporate group from taking over the portfolio.

Stated mandate

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

EZA The fund seeks to track an index made up of South African equities.

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

• EZA Listed since 2003, it is the long-running US-listed pure play on South African equities: one ticker instead of a pile of Johannesburg listings and ADRs.ishares.com
• The 25/50 index rules cap any single company group at 25% of the index and hold all 5%-plus groups to 50% combined, so no one Johannesburg giant can swallow the fund.msci.commsci.com 2
• The index targets the large and mid-cap core of the market, roughly 85% of South Africa's free-float value. You get the country's benchmark, not a stock picker's guess.msci.com
• At 0.59% the fee sits right at the median for single-country emerging-market ETFs, and the fund stands among the stronger implementations in that 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.

• EZA Around 27 holdings, with miners and financials doing most of the work. Concentration is the whole point of a single-country fund, and it cuts both ways.ishares.com
• The stocks trade in rand, the fund reports in dollars. Currency moves ride along with the share prices, in both directions.ishares.com
• 0.59% is normal for a single-country fund but well above broad emerging-market index funds, and cash comes back once or twice a year, not quarterly.

Full EWM profile⁠

Full EZA profile⁠