Alternatives in the same category

iShares MSCI China A vs iShares MSCI Taiwan

iShares MSCI China A tracks MSCI China A and iShares MSCI Taiwan tracks MSCI Taiwan. They are realistic alternatives for the same slot in a portfolio, but because the indices are different nobody can tell you in advance which will return more. What can be compared objectively is the cost, the replication method, the domicile and how each one is structured — and that is what this page does.

What each one tracks

This is the underlying difference: they do not follow the same index, so their returns will diverge.

iShares MSCI China A

MSCI China A

iShares MSCI Taiwan

MSCI Taiwan

Comparison

iShares MSCI China AiShares MSCI Taiwan
IndexMSCI China AMSCI Taiwan
TER0.40%0.74%
Hist. return*~5%~8%
ReplicationPhysicalPhysical
DistributionAccumulatingDistributing
DomicileIrlandaIrlanda
CurrencyUSDUSD
Risk5/75/7
ISINIE00BQT3WG13IE000AJFZ9E4

What the fee gap actually costs

Applying the SAME 7% gross return to both and contributing €300/month, the only thing moving the result is the TER. This is not a return forecast: it is how much the fee weighs.

HorizoniShares MSCI China AiShares MSCI TaiwanDifference
10 years€51,077€50,124€954
20 years€149,723€143,709€6,014
30 years€340,237€318,439€21,798

iShares MSCI China A is the cheaper of the two. Remember they track different indices: cost is one factor, not the verdict.

Nobody can know which will perform better: they track different indices and past performance is not a prediction. What is objective today is the cost, the replication, the domicile and the distribution policy.

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Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between iShares MSCI China A and iShares MSCI Taiwan?+

They track different indices: iShares MSCI China A follows MSCI China A and iShares MSCI Taiwan follows MSCI Taiwan. They also differ in cost (0.40% vs 0.74% TER), replication (physical vs physical) and domicile (Irlanda vs Irlanda).

Which one will perform better?+

Nobody can know that: they track different indices, so their returns will diverge, and past index performance is not a prediction. What you can control today is the cost, the tax structure and whether the index actually covers what you want exposure to.

Which one is cheaper?+

iShares MSCI China A has the lower annual fee. Applying the same 7% gross return to both with €300/month, that fee gap alone is worth about €6,014 after 20 years — that part is arithmetic, not a forecast.

Accumulating or distributing?+

iShares MSCI China A is accumulating (dividends are reinvested inside the fund) and iShares MSCI Taiwan is distributing (dividends are paid out to you). For long-term compounding in Spain, accumulating usually defers taxation; distributing gives you income you are taxed on each year.

Can I hold both?+

Yes. Unlike two funds tracking the identical index, these give you genuinely different exposure, so holding both is not automatically redundant — just be aware you may end up overlapping on the largest companies and doubling your rebalancing work.

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