EWZ vs EWZS

EWZAiShares MSCI Brazil ETF

EWZSBiShares MSCI Brazil Small-Cap ETF

In short

EWZ The Brazil trade in one ticker, running since 2000: about 50 of the country's biggest listed names, with index caps so no single giant swallows the fund. Large, heavily traded, and priced right at what Brazil funds typically charge.

EWZS Brazil past the blue chips. EWZS tracks the MSCI Brazil Small Cap Index, a compact basket of roughly 70 smaller Brazilian companies that the country's large-cap benchmarks are built to exclude.

Stated mandate

EWZ The fund seeks to track an index of Brazilian equities and provides targeted exposure to companies in Brazil.

EWZS The fund seeks to track an index of small-cap Brazilian equities.

Why people hold it

• EWZ Has been running Brazil exposure since 2000 and hugs its MSCI Brazil 25/50 index closely, one of the stronger implementations in the Brazil group.
• A multi-billion-dollar fund and one of the most actively traded in its category, so size and spread are rarely the hard part of the trade.
• The index's 25/50 capping rules trim the largest weights, keeping a couple of Brazilian mega caps from quietly becoming the whole portfolio.ishares.com
• 0.59% a year, a touch under the typical Brazil fund's fee, with distributions paid quarterly.

• EWZS One job, done tightly: it follows the MSCI Brazil Small Cap Index and has hugged it closely, with no active drift or style creep.
• The 0.59% expense ratio sits at the middle of the Brazil ETF pack, and it's the same fee iShares charges on its large-cap Brazil fund (EWZ) for an easier slice.
• Running since 2010, one of the longest-lived ways to own Brazilian small caps in a US wrapper, and it distributes quarterly.
• Lands in the upper half of the small group of Brazil ETFs we cover, ahead of the other dedicated small-cap option (BRF).

Worth knowing

• EWZ Cheaper Brazil beta exists: FLBR charges 0.19% against 0.59% here. The extra fee buys the deeper, busier market, not extra exposure.
• About 50 large Brazilian companies, one country, one policy cycle. Concentration is the point, and it cuts both ways.
• Brazilian shares, dollar-denominated fund: moves in the real feed into results on top of the market's own swings.

• EWZS Single-country small caps are a rough ride: Brazilian equity swings and real-versus-dollar currency moves both land in the same share price.
• Smaller and less heavily traded than the flagship Brazil funds, so spreads can run wider, especially outside Brazilian market hours.
• Cheaper Brazil exposure exists (FLBR at 0.19%), but it's the large-cap market, not this small-cap slice.

Full EWZ profile⁠

Full EWZS profile⁠