FLCH vs KWEB

FLCHAFranklin FTSE China ETF

KWEBCKraneShares CSI China Internet 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.

KWEB China's internet giants, undiluted: roughly 30 offshore-listed names instead of a whole-market basket. Live since 2013, KWEB is the ticker traders reach for when they want to express a view on China tech.

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.

KWEB The Fund seeks to track, before fees and expenses, the performance of the CSI Overseas China Internet Index, which covers publicly traded China-based companies focused primarily on internet and internet-related businesses.

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

• KWEB Tracks the CSI Overseas China Internet Index: about 30 China-based internet companies listed in Hong Kong, on NASDAQ or the NYSE. A sector bet, not a country bet.kraneshares.com
• Among the most actively traded funds in the China group, with an options market deep enough that KraneShares runs a covered-call fund written on KWEB itself.kraneshares.com
• At 0.69% a year, the fee sits right at the median for its China peer group despite the narrow single-theme mandate.
• Trading since 2013 and now a multi-billion-dollar fund: a long operating history for a single-country thematic product.

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.

• KWEB About 30 stocks, one sector, one country. That concentration cuts both ways, and price swings run large next to broad China funds.
• The index covers offshore listings only (Hong Kong, NASDAQ, NYSE), so mainland-listed A-share internet names sit outside the portfolio.kraneshares.com
• Whole-market China exposure is cheaper: FLCH charges 0.19% and MCHI 0.59%, both spanning the full market rather than one theme.

Full FLCH profile⁠

Full KWEB profile⁠