FXF vs FXY

FXFCInvesco CurrencyShares Swiss Franc Trust

FXYCInvesco CurrencyShares Japanese Yen Trust

In short

FXF One of the original ways to own Swiss francs in a brokerage account. Running since 2006, this grantor trust simply tracks the dollar price of the franc, the currency markets reach for when the world gets loud.

FXY The yen, in a brokerage account. FXY is a grantor trust that has held Japanese yen since 2007 and aims to reflect the currency's dollar price plus accrued interest, after trust expenses. One moving part.

Stated mandate

FXF The Trust is designed to track the price of the Swiss franc. Its objective is to reflect the U.S.-dollar price of Swiss francs plus accrued interest, less applicable expenses.

FXY The Trust seeks to have its shares reflect the U.S.-dollar price of the Japanese yen, plus accrued interest, less the Trust’s operating expenses.

Why people hold it

• FXF Pure single-currency exposure: the trust's value reflects the dollar price of Swiss francs plus accrued interest, less expenses. No stocks, bonds or index underneath.invesco.com
• The franc is the market's classic safe haven, sought out when geopolitics or markets turn turbulent.cnbc.com
• Trading since 2006, it is one of the longest-running single-currency products and sits in the upper half of a small field.
• At 0.40% a year it matches the typical single-currency fund and its CurrencyShares siblings FXE, FXB and FXY. Same sticker, different currency.

• FXY Simple by design: a grantor trust built to give investors benefits similar to holding yen itself, so there is no index to track and no futures ladder to roll.
• Listed since 2007, which means a long public record across multiple yen cycles rather than a fund that showed up after the story got popular.
• Moderately traded, and one of the stronger implementations in a small cohort of single-currency funds.

Worth knowing

• FXF Thinly traded next to mainstream ETFs, so bid/ask spreads and order size carry more weight here.
• Swiss rates sat below zero from 2015 to 2022. When franc interest is minimal, the 0.40% fee comes straight out of the franc balance.cnbc.com
• One exchange rate drives everything. No company earnings or bond coupons sit underneath the shares.

• FXY This is one exchange rate and nothing else. Moves in the dollar price of the yen come through directly, with no stocks or bonds underneath to soften them.
• Income is not the mechanism. Interest accrues inside the trust and expenses come off the top, and the trust has not been making distributions.
• The 0.40% fee is the going rate across the CurrencyShares lineup (FXE, FXB, FXF) and the cohort median, so cost is not the tiebreaker here.

Full FXF profile⁠

Full FXY profile⁠