FLCH vs KSTR

FLCHAFranklin FTSE China ETF

KSTRDKraneShares China Technology & Semiconductor STAR 50 Index ETF

In short

FLCH Cheap and wide, in the best way. FLCH holds roughly a thousand Chinese stocks and charges 0.19% a year, a fraction of what most single-country China funds ask. Whole market, small toll.

KSTR A concentrated way into Shanghai's Science and Technology Innovation Board: KSTR tracks the STAR 50, roughly 50 A-share tech and chip names, and no other China fund in its peer group follows that benchmark.

Stated mandate

FLCH The Fund seeks investment results that closely correspond, before fees and expenses, to the performance of the FTSE China RIC Capped Index.

KSTR The Fund seeks to provide investment results that generally correspond, before fees and expenses, to the performance of the SSE Science and Technology Innovation Board 50 Index.

Why people hold it

• FLCH 0.19% a year, against a roughly 0.70% median for China funds. It also undercuts the category stalwarts MCHI and GXC, both at 0.59%.
• About 1,000 holdings, so you own the long tail of Chinese listings rather than a short list of mega-cap headline names.
• One job, done tightly: mirror the FTSE China RIC Capped Index before fees. On tracking it ranks among the strongest builds in its China peer group.sec.gov

• KSTR Tracks the SSE Science and Technology Innovation Board 50 Index, about 50 Shanghai-listed names. No other China ETF in its peer group follows the same benchmark.
• Actively traded for a niche single-country fund, so getting in and out tends to be straightforward rather than a spread-hunting exercise.
• Plain plumbing: a 1940 Act fund following a published index, run since 2021 by a China-focused specialist, with a few hundred million in assets behind it.

Worth knowing

• FLCH It is China or nothing. Policy shifts, regulatory news and the currency drive the ride, with no other market in the basket to cushion it.
• Mid-sized and only moderately traded next to the category's giants, so bid-ask spreads can bite more on larger orders.
• Cash comes once or twice a year, not monthly. This is an equity index vehicle, not an income schedule.

• KSTR At 0.89% a year, it costs more than the typical China ETF in its group. That is the toll for a board most issuers skip.
• Roughly 50 stocks from one exchange board, tilted toward semiconductors, so moves land harder than in broad China funds like MCHI or FLCH.
• Across its China peer group it lands in the bottom quarter on our overall read, weighed down mainly by cost and how narrow the portfolio is.

Full FLCH profile⁠

Full KSTR profile⁠