GXC vs KSTR

GXCAState Street SPDR S&P China ETF

KSTRDKraneShares China Technology & Semiconductor STAR 50 Index ETF

In short

GXC The whole China market in one ticker: roughly 1,400 stocks from megacaps down to small caps, tracked since 2007. Most China funds buy the famous names. GXC buys the phone book.

KSTR A concentrated way into Shanghai's Science and Technology Innovation Board: KSTR tracks the STAR 50, roughly 50 A-share tech and chip names, and no other China fund in its peer group follows that benchmark.

Stated mandate

GXC The fund seeks to provide returns that generally correspond to the total return performance of the S&P China BMI Index.

KSTR The Fund seeks to provide investment results that generally correspond, before fees and expenses, to the performance of the SSE Science and Technology Innovation Board 50 Index.

Why people hold it

• GXC Holds roughly 1,400 names across large, mid and small caps, so the portfolio reaches well past the handful of megacap internet stocks that dominate narrower China funds.ssga.com
• Running since 2007, one of the longest-tenured US-listed China index funds, with a track record covering several full boom and bust cycles in the market.ssga.com
• Tracks the S&P China BMI Index tightly and sits in the upper tier of its single-country China peer group on our review.

• KSTR Tracks the SSE Science and Technology Innovation Board 50 Index, about 50 Shanghai-listed names. No other China ETF in its peer group follows the same benchmark.
• Actively traded for a niche single-country fund, so getting in and out tends to be straightforward rather than a spread-hunting exercise.
• Plain plumbing: a 1940 Act fund following a published index, run since 2021 by a China-focused specialist, with a few hundred million in assets behind it.

Worth knowing

• GXC The 0.59% expense ratio sits at the pricier end of the shelf. Plain index rivals such as FLCH and CXSE charge less for China exposure.
• Volume is light next to the category's biggest China funds, so bid-ask spreads can widen. Limit orders are the usual defense.
• One country, one policy regime: Chinese regulation, politics and currency moves drive the whole ride, and payouts land only once or twice a year.

• KSTR At 0.89% a year, it costs more than the typical China ETF in its group. That is the toll for a board most issuers skip.
• Roughly 50 stocks from one exchange board, tilted toward semiconductors, so moves land harder than in broad China funds like MCHI or FLCH.
• Across its China peer group it lands in the bottom quarter on our overall read, weighed down mainly by cost and how narrow the portfolio is.

Full GXC profile⁠

Full KSTR profile⁠