FLMX vs VNAM

FLMXAFranklin FTSE Mexico ETF

VNAMCGlobal X MSCI Vietnam ETF

In short

FLMX Mexico exposure at a discount. Franklin's tracker charges 0.19%, a fraction of what single-country emerging-market funds usually cost, and holds a compact basket of the country's largest listed companies.

VNAM Vietnam in a single US-listed ticker: about 70 locally listed large and mid caps, with index rules that stop one conglomerate from becoming the whole fund. It also prices under the typical single-country emerging-market ETF.

Stated mandate

FLMX The Fund seeks to track the performance of the FTSE Mexico Capped Index before fees and expenses through an indexing strategy, investing at least 80% of assets in index components or related exposure.

VNAM The fund seeks to track the performance of the MSCI Vietnam Select 25-50 Index before fees and expenses. It uses an indexing approach and invests primarily in securities represented by that index.

Why people hold it

• FLMX At 0.19%, one of the cheapest wrappers for Mexican equities: well under the roughly 0.59% median in its single-country EM cohort, and under EWW's 0.50%.
• Plain, rules-based mandate: it tracks the FTSE Mexico Capped Index, keeping at least 80% of assets in index components or related exposure. No manager guesswork.
• The index is a capped one, which limits how much of the portfolio any single Mexican mega-cap can occupy.
• Live since 2017 and, on our review, one of the stronger implementations among single-country emerging-market funds.

• VNAM Pure-play access to a market most US brokerage accounts cannot reach directly: roughly 70 Vietnamese large and mid caps in one index fund.globalxetfs.com
• At 0.51% a year, it prices below the median fee in its single-country emerging-market peer group.
• The 25-50 index rules cap the largest group at 25% and hold everything above 5% to 50% combined, a real check in a top-heavy market.msci.com
• Plain vanilla build: a standard 1940 Act index fund, no leverage, no swaps.

Worth knowing

• FLMX Thinly traded. Spreads can run wider than at the category's busiest funds, which adds to the real cost of getting in and out beyond the headline fee.
• One country, roughly 40 stocks. Concentration is the point, but it means Mexican policy, oil and peso moves all land straight in a dollar-based return.
• Income arrives quarterly, not monthly.

• VNAM Thinly traded with a small asset base, so spreads can run wider than on big-name ETFs and small funds carry more closure risk.
• One country, one market, and the caps still allow half the fund in a few large names, so Vietnam's swings arrive undiluted.msci.com
• Cash comes back once or twice a year rather than quarterly.

Full FLMX profile⁠

Full VNAM profile⁠