EZU vs FKU

EZUAiShares MSCI Eurozone ETF

FKUDFirst Trust United Kingdom AlphaDEX Fund

In short

EZU Europe minus the UK, Switzerland and the Nordics. EZU holds only developed countries that use the euro, about 220 large and mid caps, and it has been doing that job since 2000.

FKU Most UK funds hand you the London giants in order of size. FKU runs a rules-based screen on growth and value metrics instead, then reweights about 80 British stocks by rank. Same market, very different slice. Live since 2012.

Stated mandate

EZU The fund seeks to track an index of large- and mid-cap equities from developed countries that use the euro, providing diversified Eurozone equity exposure.

FKU The fund seeks investment results that generally correspond to the price and yield performance of the Nasdaq AlphaDEX United Kingdom Index before fees and expenses.

Why people hold it

• EZU The euro-only cut of Europe: the MSCI EMU index covers large and mid caps in developed countries inside the currency union, so no UK, Swiss or Nordic names ride along.msci.com
• Trading since 2000 and now a multi-billion-dollar, actively traded fund, one of the established ways to own the Eurozone through a single US-listed ticker.
• Roughly 220 stocks reaching about 85% of the euro bloc's free-float market value: the whole currency union, not a country or sector wager.msci.com
• Tracking is the strong suit here. It has followed its benchmark closely, which is most of the job description for a plain index wrapper.

• FKU Not a cap-weighted clone: the AlphaDEX rules rank UK stocks on growth and value metrics, so the market's biggest names don't automatically get the biggest weights.ftportfolios.com
• Holds about 80 British stocks, one of the better-balanced portfolios among single-country Europe funds, so no single name carries the whole thing.
• Running since 2012 against a published Nasdaq index, so the selection rules are public and there's a long live record to inspect. Distributions come quarterly.

Worth knowing

• EZU 0.50% a year sits above the 0.45% median for index wrappers in its group and far above global one-fund options like VT at 0.06%.
• Currency comes with the package. The euro's moves against the dollar flow straight into your dollar return; iShares runs HEZU on the same index for the hedged version.ishares.com
• Large and mid caps only. Eurozone small caps and non-euro Europe (UK, Switzerland) sit outside the mandate by design.msci.com

• FKU The 0.80% expense ratio sits at the high end for single-country Europe funds (DAX charges 0.20%, EWL 0.50%), and it's the main reason this one lands in the lower tier of the group.
• Thinly traded on a small asset base, so spreads can be wider and sizeable orders push the price around more than in the category's household names.
• One country, one market: UK equity only, so British economic and political news sets the tone. The factor screen also means it can look nothing like the headline UK index.

Full EZU profile⁠

Full FKU profile⁠