EWN vs FLKR

EWNBiShares MSCI Netherlands ETF

FLKRBFranklin FTSE South Korea ETF

In short

EWN One ticker for the Amsterdam market: roughly 60 Dutch stocks, large-cap down to small, with capping rules that keep any single giant from swallowing the fund. Running since 1996.

FLKR Korea in one passive basket for 0.09% a year, a fraction of the 0.50% typical single-country fee. Roughly 160 Korean names tracking a capped FTSE index, run as plain index plumbing rather than a stock-picking bet.

Stated mandate

EWN The fund seeks to track a broad-based index of Dutch equities.

FLKR The Fund uses a passive indexing approach to seek returns that closely correspond, before fees and expenses, to the FTSE South Korea Capped Index.

Why people hold it

• EWN Full-market reach: the index spans large, mid and small caps traded mainly on the Amsterdam exchange, not just the blue-chip handful.sec.gov
• Built-in guardrail: no single issuer may exceed 25% of the index, and issuers above 5% cannot top 50% combined.sec.gov
• Trading since 1996, an ETF-industry original, and it still does one plain job: Dutch equities, no hedges, no tilts.
• Sits in the upper half of the developed single-country group: mainstream MSCI index, a mid-sized asset base and steady volume.

• FLKR Charges 0.09% a year against a 0.50% median for single-country developed-market ETFs, tying FLAU as the cheapest fee among this cohort's leaders and undercutting EWC and EWU by a wide margin.
• Straight indexing: it seeks returns that closely correspond, before fees, to the FTSE South Korea Capped Index. No manager views, no discretionary tilts.
• The capped index spreads roughly 160 stocks and limits how far any single giant can dominate the basket, which matters in a market this top-heavy.
• A billion-dollar-plus fund that trades actively, and it has been running since 2017, so it is well past the launch-window stage.

Worth knowing

• EWN The 0.50% fee matches the typical developed single-country fund, though cohort peers like FLKR and FLAU run 0.09%.
• One country, about 60 names, and a cap that still allows one issuer near a quarter of the fund. Concentrated by design.sec.gov
• Cash comes annually or semiannually rather than monthly, and returns ride the euro since the holdings trade in Amsterdam.sec.gov

• FLKR One country, one currency. Korean shares price in won, so the exchange rate is baked into what a US investor sees, separate from how the companies do.
• Roughly 160 stocks in a single export-driven market is a narrow slice next to a global fund. Capping softens concentration, it does not erase it.
• Distributions land annually or semiannually, not monthly, so it is built as an equity holding rather than an income schedule.

Full EWN profile⁠

Full FLKR profile⁠