EWT vs FLKR

EWTCiShares MSCI Taiwan ETF

FLKRBFranklin FTSE South Korea ETF

In short

EWT Running since 2000, EWT is the veteran, heavily traded way to own Taiwan in one ticker: roughly 80 of the island's listed companies, tracking MSCI's capped Taiwan index.

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

EWT The fund seeks to track an index composed of Taiwanese 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

• EWT Trading since 2000 and now a multi-billion-dollar fund that changes hands very actively, so the market in it is deep on both sides.
• One ticker covers roughly 80 Taiwanese companies, and the index is the capped 25/50 version, which limits how much weight the largest holdings can carry.
• Plain plumbing: a straight index fund from iShares with no leverage, no derivatives overlay, no income gimmicks, and no structural red flags in our review.

• 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

• EWT At 0.59% a year it sits above the single-country median of 0.50%, and the cheapest funds in that group, such as FLKR and FLAU, charge 0.09%.
• One country, about 80 stocks: moves can run hotter than a globally diversified fund, and everything rides on a single economy.
• Distributions come once or twice a year, not quarterly, so the income arrives in lumps.

• 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 EWT profile⁠

Full FLKR profile⁠