FLAU vs FLCA

FLAUAFranklin FTSE Australia ETF

FLCAAFranklin FTSE Canada ETF

In short

FLAU Australia for nine basis points. Franklin's 2017 country fund holds a capped index of roughly 110 Australian stocks, so no single name swallows the basket, at a sliver of what the older single-country ETFs charge.

FLCA Canada in one ticker, at index-fund pricing. FLCA tracks the FTSE Canada Capped Index, about 50 large- and mid-cap Canadian names, for 0.09% a year.

Stated mandate

FLAU The Fund seeks investment results that closely track the performance of the FTSE Australia RIC Capped Index before fees and expenses.

FLCA The fund seeks to track the FTSE Canada Capped Index, which measures the performance of Canadian large- and mid-capitalization stocks.

Why people hold it

• FLAU 0.09% a year, versus a peer group where half the funds charge five times that. On a plain index fund, fee is the part you actually control.franklintempleton.com
• The benchmark is a capped FTSE Australia index, so weight limits keep any one holding from quietly becoming an outsized chunk of the fund.
• No stock-picking, no overlay: it aims to match the index before fees, across roughly 110 names, and has run that way since 2017.
• Rates as one of the stronger builds in a 30-fund developed single-country group, largely on cost and clean index execution.

• FLCA 0.09% a year against a 0.45% median for index-tracking ETFs. On plain-vanilla country exposure, the fee gap is most of the story.
• The mandate is refreshingly plain: the FTSE Canada Capped Index, Canadian large and mid caps, no factor tilts, no derivatives overlay.
• Live since 2017 and one of the stronger implementations in a crowded field of index trackers.

Worth knowing

• FLAU Thinly traded, and Sydney's session is closed during US hours, so spreads can run wider than on the household-name country funds.
• A smaller fund than the long-running incumbents, and it pays out annually or semiannually rather than on a monthly rhythm.
• The holdings trade in Australian dollars while your account is in US dollars, so the currency move is part of the ride. There is no hedge.franklintempleton.com

• FLCA About 50 stocks in one country. That is a targeted slice of the world, not a diversified core.
• Mid-sized and moderately traded, so limit orders are the sane way in and out.
• Distributions arrive once or twice a year rather than quarterly, which matters if you spend the income.

Full FLAU profile⁠

Full FLCA profile⁠