INDA vs INDE

INDAAiShares MSCI India ETF

INDECMatthews India Active ETF INDE

In short

INDA The default India trade for US investors: one big, heavily traded fund holding roughly 160 mostly larger Indian companies, running since 2012. Priced below the typical India fund, though it is not the category's price leader.

INDE Most India ETFs just buy the index. INDE hires stock pickers instead: Matthews Asia managers build the India portfolio by hand, free to hold common stock, preferred shares or convertibles. Launched in 2023, it's the active outlier in a cohort of trackers.

Stated mandate

INDA The fund seeks to track an index composed of Indian equities, providing targeted exposure to India.

INDE The fund seeks long-term capital appreciation by investing at least 80% of net assets in common stocks, preferred stocks, and convertible securities of companies located in India.

Why people hold it

• INDA Charges 0.61% a year against a 0.75% median for US-listed India funds, so the access fee sits below the category's going rate.
• A multi-billion-dollar fund and among the most actively traded in its category, so getting in or out rarely means fighting a thin order book.
• Tracks the MSCI India Index with no side bets, and rates as one of the strongest implementations among US-listed India funds. Live since 2012.

• INDE Real active management in an index-dominated group: managers choose the names, with room to hold preferred shares and convertibles alongside common stock.
• Does what the label says. At least 80% of net assets go to companies located in India, and the portfolio has stuck closely to that mandate.
• Plain equity exposure. No leverage, no options overlay, no structural wrinkles in the mandate, just Indian company shares chosen for long-term capital appreciation.

Worth knowing

• INDA FLIN runs a broad India index for 0.19%. Here you pay up for the deeper trading and the longer live record.
• One country, one currency. Rupee moves land in your return alongside Indian share prices.
• Roughly 160 holdings skewed to India's bigger listed names; the small-cap tier sits in a separate fund (SMIN).

• INDE At 0.79% a year it costs more than index rivals like FLIN (0.19%) and INDA (0.61%), and it currently sits behind those cheaper trackers in our peer group review.
• Small and thinly traded next to the big India funds, so spreads can be wider and sizeable orders can push the price around.
• It opened in 2023, so the track record is short, and payouts come once or twice a year rather than as a regular income stream.

Full INDA profile⁠

Full INDE profile⁠