KWEB vs MCHI

KWEBCKraneShares CSI China Internet ETF

MCHIAiShares MSCI China ETF

In short

KWEB China's internet giants, undiluted: roughly 30 offshore-listed names instead of a whole-market basket. Live since 2013, KWEB is the ticker traders reach for when they want to express a view on China tech.

MCHI The default one-ticker way to own China. MCHI has tracked the MSCI China Index since 2011, holding roughly 600 stocks open to international investors, and it stays actively traded.

Stated mandate

KWEB The Fund seeks to track, before fees and expenses, the performance of the CSI Overseas China Internet Index, which covers publicly traded China-based companies focused primarily on internet and internet-related businesses.

MCHI The fund seeks to track an index of Chinese equities available to international investors.

Why people hold it

• KWEB Tracks the CSI Overseas China Internet Index: about 30 China-based internet companies listed in Hong Kong, on NASDAQ or the NYSE. A sector bet, not a country bet.kraneshares.com
• Among the most actively traded funds in the China group, with an options market deep enough that KraneShares runs a covered-call fund written on KWEB itself.kraneshares.com
• At 0.69% a year, the fee sits right at the median for its China peer group despite the narrow single-theme mandate.
• Trading since 2013 and now a multi-billion-dollar fund: a long operating history for a single-country thematic product.

• MCHI One ticker, roughly 600 Chinese stocks. Instead of picking among share classes and listings, you get the MSCI China Index (Net) in a single line item.ishares.com
• 0.59% expense ratio, below the middle of the single-country China pack, and the fund has hewed closely to its stated index mandate.
• Running since 2011 and now a multi-billion-dollar fund that trades actively, which is why it turns up as the reference China holding in so many portfolios.
• One of the stronger implementations in its peer group on tradability and staying power, both scored in the top tier of the China cohort.

Worth knowing

• KWEB About 30 stocks, one sector, one country. That concentration cuts both ways, and price swings run large next to broad China funds.
• The index covers offshore listings only (Hong Kong, NASDAQ, NYSE), so mainland-listed A-share internet names sit outside the portfolio.kraneshares.com
• Whole-market China exposure is cheaper: FLCH charges 0.19% and MCHI 0.59%, both spanning the full market rather than one theme.

• MCHI Cheaper broad-China options exist: FLCH charges 0.19% and JPMorgan's active JCHI 0.15%. You are paying up for MCHI's depth and liquidity.
• Single-country equity risk, undiluted. Chinese regulation, currency and policy swings hit the whole basket at once, and the index leans heavily on its biggest names.
• Distributions come once or twice a year, not monthly, so cash flow arrives in lumps.

Full KWEB profile⁠

Full MCHI profile⁠