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

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, EWJ returned +18.1% and EWT +69.9%.

Which is cheaper, EWJ or EWT?

EWJ is cheaper, by 0.10 percentage points a year. That is about $10 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

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

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

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

Across categories

EWJ vs EWT: Differences, Returns & Fees

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Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, EWJ returned +18.1% to EWT's +69.9%; 0% of their weight is in the same names.

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Net assets on Oct 28, 2026: $23.9bn for iShares MSCI Japan ETF and $12.0bn for iShares MSCI Taiwan ETF.

EWJ on its own →EWT on its own →

At a glance

+18.1%

EWJ total return, 1 year

+69.9%

EWT total return, 1 year

0.49%

EWJ expense ratio

0.59%

EWT expense ratio

Pair scorecard

EWJ costs 0.10 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 51.8 points; EWJ is 2.0 times larger.

EWJ vs EWT: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	EWJ	EWT
Return
Measure	EWJ	EWT
Total return, 1 year	+18.1%	+69.9%
Drawdown
Measure	EWJ	EWT
Below its high	4.4%, high on Oct 6, 2026	7.7%, high on Oct 5, 2026
Benchmark
Measure	EWJ	EWT
What it tracks	MSCI Japan Index	MSCI Taiwan 25/50 Index
Cost and size
Measure	EWJ	EWT
Expense ratio	0.49%	0.59%
Net assets	$23.9bn	$12.0bn
Holdings
Measure	EWJ	EWT
Holdings in common	0%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund	29.5%	47.7%

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

Risk and return

Jun 30, 2000 to Oct 23, 2026 · 1,373 weekly returns

EWJ EWT

Return

Total return edge EWT +127.5% +558.3%

Annualized edge EWT +3.2% +7.4%

Price return edge EWT +54.9% +179.7%

Risk

Volatility edge EWJ 19.0% 25.5%

Max drawdown edge EWJ (slight) −57.6% −62.3%

Downside capture 87.1% 88.6%

Beta 0.76 0.82

Risk-adjusted

Sharpe edge EWT 0.17 0.34

Sortino edge EWT 0.23 0.48

Treynor 0.071 0.155

Calmar edge EWT 0.05 0.12

Against the benchmark

Alpha +1.6% a year +4.5% a year

Alpha t-stat 0.65 1.63

Information ratio 0.03 0.19

Tracking error 11.6% 13.9%

Each against its own benchmark: EWJ against ACWX, Apr 11, 2008 to Oct 23, 2026; EWT against EEM, Apr 25, 2003 to Oct 23, 2026.

Reading

EWT returned more: +558.3% to +127.5%. EWJ swung less: 19.0% to 25.5%. EWJ fell slightly less at its worst: −57.6% to −62.3%.

Full scorecard

19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓

Risk and return: EWJ vs EWT: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	EWJ	EWT	Edge	How it is measured
Return
Total return	+127.5%	+558.3%	EWT	Price change plus distributions, reinvested.
Annualized	+3.2%	+7.4%	EWT	Total return as a yearly rate.
Price return	+54.9%	+179.7%	EWT	Price change alone, distributions left out.
Risk
Volatility	19.0%	25.5%	EWJ	Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier.
Downside deviation	13.6%	17.9%	EWJ	Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate.
Max drawdown	−57.6%	−62.3%	EWJ (slight)	Deepest fall from a high to the low after it.
Upside capture	75.1%	78.9%		Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose.
Downside capture	87.1%	88.6%		Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better.
Beta	0.76	0.82	Not an edge	How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves.
R squared	0.67	0.67	Not an edge	Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains.
Risk-adjusted
Sharpe	0.17	0.34	EWT	Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility.
Sortino	0.23	0.48	EWT	Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation.
Treynor	0.071	0.155		Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta.
Calmar	0.05	0.12	EWT	Annualized return divided by the max drawdown.
Against the benchmark
Benchmark	ACWX	EEM		The ETF each fund is measured against.
Alpha	+1.6% a year	+4.5% a year	Not significant	Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts.
Alpha t-stat	0.65	1.63	Not an edge	How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance.
Alpha range	−3.2% to +6.4%	−0.9% to +9.8%	Includes zero	The 95% range for the yearly alpha.
Information ratio	0.03	0.19		Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error.
Tracking error	11.6%	13.9%	Not an edge	How far weekly returns stray from the benchmark, annualized.

Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 1,373 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.

What they share

By the books each fund has filed, EWJ and EWT 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 EWJ EWT

Only in one fund ↓

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%

Only in EWT

TAIWAN SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING 22.12%

MEDIATEK 6.03%

HON HAI PRECISION INDUSTRY 3.31%

DELTA ELECTRONICS 3.25%

ASE TECHNOLOGY HOLDING 2.86%

NAN YA PLASTICS CORP 2.54%

UNIMICRON TECHNOLOGY 2.04%

ELITE MATERIAL 1.88%

Check overlap with more funds →

Side by side

EWJ iShares MSCI Japan ETF EWT iShares MSCI Taiwan ETF

Where it sits Stock ETF Stock ETF

Issuer iShares iShares

What it is Tracks the MSCI Japan Tracks the MSCI Taiwan

Total return, 1 year +18.1% +69.9%

Its benchmark over the same days +14.3% (ACWX) +16.3% (EEM)

Gap to its benchmark +3.8 pts vs ACWX +53.6 pts vs EEM

Expense ratio 0.49% 0.59%

Already in the S&P 500 0.0% 0.0%

Holdings 169 79

Net assets $23.9bn $12.0bn

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

Client brief · page 1 of 2 Report BR-FA939E3786

EWJ and EWT do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?

What each follows. EWJ follows MSCI Japan Index and EWT follows MSCI Taiwan 25/50 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 EWJ returned +18.1% and EWT +69.9% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 51.8 points.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

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About each fund

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.

EWT

EWT tracks the MSCI Taiwan. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +69.9% with distributions reinvested, against +16.3% for its benchmark, the MSCI Emerging Markets Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.59% 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 79 positions, with the top ten at 47.7%. It sat 7.7% below its high of Oct 5, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, EWJ or EWT?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, EWJ returned +18.1% and EWT +69.9%.
Which is cheaper, EWJ or EWT?: EWJ is cheaper, by 0.10 percentage points a year. That is about $10 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
How much do EWJ and EWT overlap with the S&P 500?: By their latest filed holdings, 0% of EWJ and 0% of EWT by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Other comparisons

EWJ vs FXI EWJ vs IDEV EWJ vs IEFA EWJ vs VEA EWT vs EWZ EWT vs EZU EWT vs VPL EWT vs ILF

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

EWJ and EWT filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

EWJ and EWT prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

iShares page for EWJ ↗

iShares page for EWT ↗

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.

Cite this pageCitation, APA and Markdown

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

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