FLKR vs GLCR

FLKRBFranklin FTSE South Korea ETF

GLCRFGlacierShares Nasdaq Iceland ETF

In short

FLKR Korea in one passive basket for 0.09% a year, a fraction of the 0.50% typical single-country fee. Roughly 160 Korean names tracking a capped FTSE index, run as plain index plumbing rather than a stock-picking bet.

GLCR Iceland, in one ticker. GLCR tracks a MarketVector index of Icelandic companies and firms tied to Iceland's economy, roughly 30 names deep, wrapped in a plain-vanilla US ETF that launched in 2025.

Stated mandate

FLKR The Fund uses a passive indexing approach to seek returns that closely correspond, before fees and expenses, to the FTSE South Korea Capped Index.

GLCR GLCR seeks to track, before fees and expenses, the total return of an index covering equity securities of Icelandic companies and companies related to Iceland’s economy.

Why people hold it

• FLKR Charges 0.09% a year against a 0.50% median for single-country developed-market ETFs, tying FLAU as the cheapest fee among this cohort's leaders and undercutting EWC and EWU by a wide margin.
• Straight indexing: it seeks returns that closely correspond, before fees, to the FTSE South Korea Capped Index. No manager views, no discretionary tilts.
• The capped index spreads roughly 160 stocks and limits how far any single giant can dominate the basket, which matters in a market this top-heavy.
• A billion-dollar-plus fund that trades actively, and it has been running since 2017, so it is well past the launch-window stage.

• GLCR Pure single-country Iceland equity exposure through a rules-based index (MarketVector Iceland Global Total Return Net), not a manager's stock picks.
• The mandate reaches past domicile: the index covers Icelandic companies plus companies tied to Iceland's economy, which widens a very shallow home market.
• Ordinary 1940 Act fund structure holding stocks, so it trades and reports like any other equity ETF (no partnership wrapper, no derivatives sleeve).

Worth knowing

• FLKR One country, one currency. Korean shares price in won, so the exchange rate is baked into what a US investor sees, separate from how the companies do.
• Roughly 160 stocks in a single export-driven market is a narrow slice next to a global fund. Capping softens concentration, it does not erase it.
• Distributions land annually or semiannually, not monthly, so it is built as an equity holding rather than an income schedule.

• GLCR At 0.95% a year, the fee runs close to double the median for single-country developed-market ETFs, the price of reaching a market nobody else indexes.
• Small asset base and light trading. Spreads can be wider than in the big country funds like EWC or EWU, so how you enter matters more than usual.
• About 30 holdings in one small economy. Concentration cuts both ways, and the 2025 launch means no record across a full market cycle yet.

Full FLKR profile⁠

Full GLCR profile⁠