EWUS vs FLGB

EWUSCiShares MSCI United Kingdom Small-Cap ETF

FLGBAFranklin FTSE United Kingdom ETF

In short

EWUS Britain only, small caps only. While the broad funds in its category spread across the developed world, EWUS tracks a single MSCI index of roughly 200 small UK companies, and has done so since 2012.

FLGB Britain in one ticker for nine basis points. Franklin's UK tracker follows a capped FTSE index of roughly 110 British companies and charges a small fraction of what the typical index fund in its peer group costs.

Stated mandate

EWUS The fund seeks to track an index of small-capitalization equities from the United Kingdom.

FLGB The fund seeks to track, before fees and expenses, the performance of the FTSE UK RIC Capped Index.

Why people hold it

• EWUS A scalpel, not a net: one index, roughly 200 UK small caps, no other countries diluting the call.
• Does what the label says: it stays tight to the MSCI United Kingdom Small Cap Index, with little drift into other markets or larger names.
• Live since January 2012 under the iShares roof, so it carries a long record spanning Brexit and everything after.

• FLGB 0.09% a year, a fraction of the median fee across the index trackers we grade. Cheap is the whole pitch for single-country beta, and this one delivers it.
• One trade, roughly 110 UK companies. A passive, rules-based mandate tied to the FTSE UK RIC Capped Index, running since its 2017 launch.
• Stands in the top quartile of its plain-index-wrapper peer group, and the mandate data behind that read is high confidence.

Worth knowing

• EWUS 0.59% a year, while broad international small-cap options like VSS and SCHC charge a fraction of that. Single-country focus carries a price.
• A small fund that trades lightly, so spreads can be wide and the size of your order and how you place it matter more than with a heavily traded ETF.
• One country, one size band: nothing else in the basket cushions a rough patch in Britain, and the pound's moves against the dollar ride along.

• FLGB Single-country by design: UK listings only, so there is no cushion from other markets inside the fund. Broad global trackers like VT spread that bet differently.
• Moderately traded rather than a volume monster, so limit orders are the sane way in and out.
• Distributions arrive once or twice a year, not monthly. Income lands in lumps.

Full EWUS profile⁠

Full FLGB profile⁠