MCHI vs NBCE

MCHIAiShares MSCI China ETF

NBCECNeuberger Berman China Equity ETF

In short

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.

NBCE A stock-picker's China fund: roughly 70 names spanning mainland A-shares, Hong Kong listings and ADRs, filtered through Neuberger Berman's own ESG ratings and measured against the MSCI China All Shares Index.

Stated mandate

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

NBCE The Fund seeks long-term capital growth and normally invests at least 80% of net assets in equity investments economically tied to China, primarily China A-shares, Chinese securities listed in Hong Kong, and ADRs.

Why people hold it

• 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.

• NBCE Reaches across the whole China market: mainland A-shares plus Hong Kong listings and ADRs, so onshore domestic names sit alongside the offshore giants many China ETFs stop at.
• Roughly 70 holdings, not hundreds. A concentrated book where individual picks carry real weight, rather than a thin slice of a sprawling benchmark.
• Runs an in-house screen: Neuberger Berman's own ESG ratings methodology shapes the universe instead of buying the index whole.
• The portfolio stays on-mandate, with at least 80% of net assets in equities economically tied to China, as the prospectus spells out.

Worth knowing

• 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.

• NBCE Cost is the headline trade-off: an expense ratio just above 5%, next to 0.19% for FLCH and 0.59% for MCHI on the same shelf.
• Small and thinly traded next to the big China trackers, which tends to mean wider spreads and more attention needed on how you place an order.
• One country, one policy regime. Chinese regulation, currency and mainland access rules drive the ride, and the fund has only been trading since 2023.

Full MCHI profile⁠

Full NBCE profile⁠