Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
EWJ vs IEFA: Differences, Returns & Fees
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, EWJ returned +18.1% to IEFA's +12.3%; 21% 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 $190.4bn for iShares Core MSCI EAFE ETF.
Pair scorecard
IEFA costs 0.42 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 5.8 points; IEFA is 8.0 times larger.
| Measure | EWJ | IEFA |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +18.1% | +12.3% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Below its high | 4.4%, high on Oct 6, 2026 | 4.7%, high on Aug 25, 2026 |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | MSCI Japan Index | MSCI EAFE IMI Index |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.49% | 0.07% |
| Net assets | $23.9bn | $190.4bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 21% | |
| Top ten holdings, share of the fund | 29.5% | 12.3% |
Holdings in common uses holdings dated Oct 27, 2026. Method
Risk and return
Nov 2, 2012 to Oct 23, 2026 · 729 weekly returns · each against ACWXEWJ returned more: +234.4% to +199.1%. IEFA swung slightly less: 16.2% to 17.1%. EWJ fell slightly less at its worst: −32.5% to −34.1%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | EWJ | IEFA | ACWX | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | |||||
| Total return | +234.4% | +199.1% | EWJ | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. | |
| Annualized | +9.0% | +8.1% | EWJ (slight) | Total return as a yearly rate. | |
| Price return | +159.1% | +100.2% | EWJ | Price change alone, distributions left out. | |
| Risk | |||||
| Volatility | 17.1% | 16.2% | IEFA (slight) | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. | |
| Downside deviation | 11.9% | 11.5% | IEFA (slight) | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. | |
| Max drawdown | −32.5% | −34.1% | EWJ (slight) | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. | |
| Upside capture | 90.5% | 98.1% | 100.0% | IEFA (slight) | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. |
| Downside capture | 91.9% | 97.7% | 100.0% | EWJ (slight) | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. |
| Beta | 0.88 | 1.00 | 1.00 | EWJ lower | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 0.67 | 0.96 | 1.00 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | |||||
| Sharpe | 0.48 | 0.45 | EWJ (slight) | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. | |
| Sortino | 0.69 | 0.64 | EWJ (slight) | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. | |
| Treynor | 0.094 | 0.073 | 0.065 | EWJ | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. |
| Calmar | 0.28 | 0.24 | EWJ | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. | |
| Against the benchmark | |||||
| Benchmark | ACWX | ACWX | ACWX | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | +2.5% a year | +0.8% a year | 0.0% | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | 0.96 | 0.96 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. | |
| Alpha range | −2.6% to +7.6% | −0.9% to +2.5% | Both include zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. | |
| Information ratio | 0.18 | 0.25 | IEFA | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 9.9% | 3.2% | 0.0% | Not an edge | How far weekly returns stray from the benchmark, annualized. |
Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 729 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
What they share
By the books each fund has filed, EWJ and IEFA hold 21% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Oct 27, 2026.
half
21% in common
Only in one fund ↓
Side by side
EWJ and IEFA on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
EWJ and IEFA do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?
- What each follows. EWJ follows MSCI Japan Index and IEFA follows MSCI EAFE IMI Index.
- Holdings in common. 21% 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 IEFA +12.3% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 5.8 points.
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
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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.
IEFA
IEFA tracks the MSCI EAFE. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +12.3% with distributions reinvested, against +14.3% for its benchmark, the MSCI ACWI ex USA Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.07% 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 2,629 positions, with the top ten at 12.3%. It sat 4.7% below its high of Aug 25, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.
Questions people ask
- Which returned more over the last year, EWJ or IEFA?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, EWJ returned +18.1% and IEFA +12.3%.
- Which is cheaper, EWJ or IEFA?
- IEFA is cheaper, by 0.42 percentage points a year. That is about $42 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, EWJ against IEFA, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/ewj-vs-iefa
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