Which returned more over the last year, AVEM or EWJ?

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, AVEM returned +17.9% and EWJ +18.1%.

Which is cheaper, AVEM or EWJ?

AVEM is cheaper, by 0.16 percentage points a year. That is about $16 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

How much do AVEM and EWJ overlap with the S&P 500?

By their latest filed holdings, 0% of AVEM and 0% of EWJ by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

Across categories

AVEM vs EWJ: Differences, Returns & Fees

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Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, AVEM returned +17.9% to EWJ's +18.1%; 0% of their weight is in the same names.

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Net assets: $27.3bn on Oct 27, 2026 for Avantis Emerging Markets Equity ETF, and $23.9bn on Oct 28, 2026 for iShares MSCI Japan ETF.

AVEM on its own →EWJ on its own →

At a glance

+17.9%

AVEM total return, 1 year

+18.1%

EWJ total return, 1 year

0.33%

AVEM expense ratio

0.49%

EWJ expense ratio

Pair scorecard

AVEM costs 0.16 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 0.2 points; AVEM is 1.1 times larger.

AVEM vs EWJ: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	AVEM	EWJ
Return
Measure	AVEM	EWJ
Total return, 1 year	+17.9%	+18.1%
Drawdown
Measure	AVEM	EWJ
Below its high	10.2%, high on Jun 22, 2026	4.4%, high on Oct 6, 2026
Benchmark
Measure	AVEM	EWJ
What it tracks	No index, actively managed	MSCI Japan Index
Cost and size
Measure	AVEM	EWJ
Expense ratio	0.33%	0.49%
Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026	$27.3bn	$23.8bn
Holdings
Measure	AVEM	EWJ
Holdings in common	0%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund	28.7%	29.5%

Holdings in common uses holdings dated Oct 27, 2026. Method

What they share

By the books each fund has filed, AVEM and EWJ hold 0% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Oct 27, 2026.

50%

0 half 100%

half

0% in common

Positions both hold · largest shared weight first AVEM EWJ

Only in one fund ↓

Only in AVEM

TAIWAN SEMICONDUCTOR SP ADR ADR 6.82%

TAIWAN SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFAC COMMON STOCK TWD10.0 6.09%

SAMSUNG ELECTR GDR REG S GDR 5.35%

SK HYNIX INC COMMON STOCK KRW5000.0 4.89%

TENCENT HOLDINGS LTD COMMON STOCK HKD.00002 1.49%

CHINA CONSTRUCTION BANK H COMMON STOCK CNY1.0 1.02%

MEDIATEK INC COMMON STOCK TWD10.0 0.96%

HON HAI PRECISION INDUSTRY COMMON STOCK TWD10.0 0.73%

Only in EWJ

MITSUBISHI UFJ FINANCIAL GROUP 4.40%

TOYOTA MOTOR 3.59%

ADVANTEST 3.03%

HITACHI 3.03%

RECRUIT HOLDINGS LTD 3.03%

SONY GROUP 2.89%

SUMITOMO MITSUI FINANCIAL GROUP 2.83%

TOKYO ELECTRON 2.55%

Check overlap with more funds →

Side by side

AVEM Avantis Emerging Markets Equity ETF EWJ iShares MSCI Japan ETF

Where it sits Stock ETF Stock ETF

Issuer Avantis iShares

What it is Actively managed Tracks the MSCI Japan

Total return, 1 year +17.9% +18.1%

Its benchmark over the same days not measured +14.3% (ACWX)

Gap to its benchmark not measured +3.8 pts vs ACWX

Expense ratio 0.33% 0.49%

Already in the S&P 500 0.0% 0.0%

Holdings 4088 169

Net assets, AVEM as of Oct 27, 2026 and EWJ as of Oct 28, 2026 $27.3bn $23.9bn

AVEM and EWJ on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.

Alert

About each fund

AVEM

AVEM is actively managed and tracks no index. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +17.9% with distributions reinvested. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.33% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026, 0% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 4,088 positions, with the top ten at 28.7%. It sat 10.2% below its high of Jun 22, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.

EWJ

EWJ tracks the MSCI Japan. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +18.1% with distributions reinvested, against +14.3% for its benchmark, the MSCI ACWI ex USA Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.49% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026, 0% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 169 positions, with the top ten at 29.5%. It sat 4.4% below its high of Oct 6, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, AVEM or EWJ?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, AVEM returned +17.9% and EWJ +18.1%.
Which is cheaper, AVEM or EWJ?: AVEM is cheaper, by 0.16 percentage points a year. That is about $16 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
How much do AVEM and EWJ overlap with the S&P 500?: By their latest filed holdings, 0% of AVEM and 0% of EWJ by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Other comparisons

AVEM vs EFA AVEM vs INDA AVEM vs ILF AVEM vs FLKR EMXC vs EWJ EEM vs EWJ EWJ vs VWO EWJ vs IEMG

Where to next

AVEM on its own →EWJ on its own →Hold both: look the portfolio through →Rankings →AVEM dividend history →AVEM holdings →EWJ dividend history →EWJ holdings →Standards and sources →

Sources and dates

AVEM filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

AVEM prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

Avantis website ↗

EWJ filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

EWJ prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

iShares page for EWJ ↗

Links are sources, not endorsements. A comparison is not a recommendation.

How this is computed

Overlap adds up the smaller of the two weights for each security both funds hold.

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ETFIQ, AVEM against EWJ, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/avem-vs-ewj

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Free to use with attribution for data ETFIQ computes; issuer data stays under its owner's terms.