Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
AVUV vs EWJ: Differences, Returns & Fees
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, AVUV returned +25.1% to EWJ's +18.1%; 0% of their weight is in the same names.
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Net assets: $32.1bn on Oct 27, 2026 for Avantis U.S. Small Cap Value ETF, and $23.9bn on Oct 28, 2026 for iShares MSCI Japan ETF.
Pair scorecard
AVUV costs 0.24 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 7.0 points; AVUV is 1.3 times larger.
| Measure | AVUV | EWJ |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +25.1% | +18.1% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Below its high | 4.4%, high on Aug 4, 2026 | 4.4%, high on Oct 6, 2026 |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | No index, actively managed | MSCI Japan Index |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.25% | 0.49% |
| Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 | $32.1bn | $23.8bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 0% | |
| Top ten holdings, share of the fund | 7.9% | 29.5% |
Holdings in common uses holdings dated Oct 27, 2026. Method
Risk and return
Oct 4, 2019 to Oct 23, 2026 · 368 weekly returnsEach against its own benchmark: AVUV against IWN, Oct 4, 2019 to Oct 23, 2026; EWJ against ACWX, Apr 11, 2008 to Oct 23, 2026.
AVUV returned more: +180.4% to +92.9%. EWJ swung less: 19.0% to 27.5%. EWJ fell less at its worst: −32.5% to −48.5%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | AVUV | EWJ | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +180.4% | +92.9% | AVUV | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +15.7% | +9.7% | AVUV | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | +150.6% | +65.9% | AVUV | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 27.5% | 19.0% | EWJ | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 18.9% | 13.0% | EWJ | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −48.5% | −32.5% | EWJ | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Upside capture | 111.7% | 75.1% | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. | |
| Downside capture | 100.1% | 87.1% | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. | |
| Beta | 1.04 | 0.76 | Not an edge | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 0.95 | 0.67 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | 0.56 | 0.43 | AVUV | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 0.82 | 0.63 | AVUV | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Treynor | 0.148 | 0.071 | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. | |
| Calmar | 0.32 | 0.30 | AVUV (slight) | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
| Against the benchmark | ||||
| Benchmark | IWN | ACWX | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | +4.3% a year | +1.6% a year | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | 1.91 | 0.65 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. |
| Alpha range | −0.1% to +8.7% | −3.2% to +6.4% | Includes zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. |
| Information ratio | 0.79 | 0.03 | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 6.1% | 11.6% | Not an edge | How far weekly returns stray from the benchmark, annualized. |
Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 368 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
What they share
By the books each fund has filed, AVUV and EWJ hold 0% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Oct 27, 2026.
half
0% in common
Only in one fund ↓
Side by side
AVUV and EWJ on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
AVUV and EWJ do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?
- What each follows. AVUV follows No index, actively managed and EWJ follows MSCI Japan Index.
- Holdings in common. 0% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Oct 27, 2026).
- One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 AVUV returned +25.1% and EWJ +18.1% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 7.0 points.
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
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Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +25.1% with distributions reinvested, against +21.1% for its benchmark, the Russell 2000 Value.
AVUV is actively managed and tracks no index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.25% 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 791 positions, with the top ten at 7.9%. It sat 4.4% below its high of Aug 4, 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, AVUV or EWJ?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, AVUV returned +25.1% and EWJ +18.1%.
- Which is cheaper, AVUV or EWJ?
- AVUV is cheaper, by 0.24 percentage points a year. That is about $24 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
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, AVUV against EWJ, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/avuv-vs-ewj
ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). AVUV against EWJ. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/avuv-vs-ewj
[AVUV against EWJ (ETFIQ, Oct 28, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/avuv-vs-ewj)
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