FMAT vs MXI

FMATAFidelity MSCI Materials Index ETF

MXICiShares Global Materials ETF

In short

FMAT The whole US materials sector in one cheap wrapper: chemicals, industrial gases, miners and packagers, roughly 120 names spanning large down to small caps, for 0.08% a year. Fidelity has run it since 2013.

MXI Most materials funds stop at the US border. MXI doesn't: it tracks a global materials index, putting overseas miners, chemical makers and packagers next to the American names, and has done so since 2006.

Stated mandate

FMAT The fund seeks to provide returns that generally correspond, before fees and expenses, to the MSCI USA IMI Materials Index.

MXI The fund seeks to track an index made up of global equities from the materials sector.

Why people hold it

• FMAT Costs 0.08% a year, tied with XLB for the lowest fee among materials ETFs and a fraction of what the typical fund in the group charges.
• Tracks MSCI's investable-market index, so the basket reaches past the mega caps into mid and small caps: roughly 120 holdings, not a dozen giants.fidelity.com
• Does what the label says. Its returns have hugged its stated MSCI materials index, one of the stronger index implementations in its peer group.
• Live since 2013 with a multi-hundred-million-dollar asset base and quarterly distributions.

• MXI Global by design. The fund tracks the S&P Global 1200 Materials Index, so companies listed outside the US carry real weight instead of appearing as an afterthought.ishares.com
• Running since 2006 under the iShares banner, with roughly 90 holdings spread across the sector rather than a top-heavy handful of megacaps.
• The 0.37% fee sits near the middle of the materials-fund pack, and here it buys worldwide coverage rather than a US-only slice of the sector.

Worth knowing

• FMAT One sector, and a cyclical one. Materials profits ride commodity prices and industrial demand, so this can move a long way from the broad market in either direction.
• US-listed companies only, so the big Australian, Canadian and European miners sit outside the basket.fidelity.com
• Moderately traded rather than a volume leader, so spreads can run wider than at the busiest materials funds, especially in fast markets.

• MXI The US-only options (XLB, VAW, FMAT) charge a fraction of this fee. The global mandate is what the extra cost is buying.
• Trading is thin next to the big US sector funds, so spreads can widen. That bites hardest on large or hurried orders.
• One sector, and a commodity-linked one: the whole portfolio rides global industrial demand with nothing else to cushion it.

Full FMAT profile⁠

Full MXI profile⁠