FLCH vs NBCE

FLCHAFranklin FTSE China ETF

NBCECNeuberger Berman China Equity 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.

NBCE A stock-picker's China fund: roughly 70 names spanning mainland A-shares, Hong Kong listings and ADRs, filtered through Neuberger Berman's own ESG ratings and measured against the MSCI China All Shares Index.

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.

NBCE The Fund seeks long-term capital growth and normally invests at least 80% of net assets in equity investments economically tied to China, primarily China A-shares, Chinese securities listed in Hong Kong, and ADRs.

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

• NBCE Reaches across the whole China market: mainland A-shares plus Hong Kong listings and ADRs, so onshore domestic names sit alongside the offshore giants many China ETFs stop at.
• Roughly 70 holdings, not hundreds. A concentrated book where individual picks carry real weight, rather than a thin slice of a sprawling benchmark.
• Runs an in-house screen: Neuberger Berman's own ESG ratings methodology shapes the universe instead of buying the index whole.
• The portfolio stays on-mandate, with at least 80% of net assets in equities economically tied to China, as the prospectus spells out.

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.

• NBCE Cost is the headline trade-off: an expense ratio just above 5%, next to 0.19% for FLCH and 0.59% for MCHI on the same shelf.
• Small and thinly traded next to the big China trackers, which tends to mean wider spreads and more attention needed on how you place an order.
• One country, one policy regime. Chinese regulation, currency and mainland access rules drive the ride, and the fund has only been trading since 2023.

Full FLCH profile⁠

Full NBCE profile⁠