FLIN vs INCO

FLINAFranklin FTSE India ETF

INCOCColumbia India Consumer ETF

In short

FLIN Franklin's India fund runs the whole large- and mid-cap market at 0.19% a year, a fraction of what most India ETFs charge. Same country, same index-tracking job, cheaper meter running.

INCO Most India ETFs hand you the whole market: banks, software, energy. INCO buys the shopping cart instead, a concentrated basket of Indian consumer discretionary and staples companies, tracking a rules-based index since 2011.

Stated mandate

FLIN The fund seeks to track, before fees and expenses, the performance of the FTSE India RIC Capped Index.

INCO The Fund is passively managed and seeks to track an unaffiliated index while investing predominantly in Indian securities. Its exposure is concentrated in consumer discretionary and consumer staples companies.

Why people hold it

• FLIN Charges 0.19% a year, well under the typical India ETF fee and under every other top-scoring fund in the group, including INDA, INDY and SMIN.
• Tracks the FTSE India RIC Capped Index with very little slippage, one of the tightest index-following records among India funds.
• Roughly 240 Indian stocks in one ticker, plus a billion-dollar-plus asset base and steady daily trading, so spreads stay manageable for ordinary orders.
• Live since 2018, giving it a multi-year track record through India's boom and its drawdowns rather than a fresh-off-the-line prospectus.

• INCO A direct play on Indian household spending: consumer discretionary and staples only, not a thin sliver buried inside a broad-market index.
• Passive and rules-based, following the Indxx India Consumer Goods Index, and it has stuck closely to that stated mandate.
• Live since 2011, carrying the same consumer mandate through more than a decade of Indian market cycles. Long track record for a niche theme.

Worth knowing

• FLIN One country, one currency. Indian politics, rates and a moving rupee land directly in the price, with no other market to cushion the swing.
• The RIC Capped index trims oversized positions to meet US fund diversification rules, so returns can drift from an uncapped India benchmark.
• Distributions come annually or semiannually, and Indian large caps are not a high-payout market. This is a growth-exposure tool, not an income stream.

• INCO The 0.76% expense ratio sits right at the India-fund median, but well above broad options like FLIN at 0.19%. A focused slice prices higher than the whole market.
• Roughly 30 stocks in two sectors: individual names carry real weight, and a consumer-led selloff leaves nowhere to hide.
• A smaller, thinly traded fund, so spreads can run wider than on the big broad-India names. Income has not been part of the story here.

Full FLIN profile⁠

Full INCO profile⁠