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

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, EWJ returned +18.1% and IXUS +14.1%.

Which is cheaper, EWJ or IXUS?

IXUS 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.

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

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

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

Across categories

EWJ vs IXUS: Differences, Returns & Fees

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Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, EWJ returned +18.1% to IXUS's +14.1%; 12% of their weight is in the same names.

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Net assets: $23.9bn on Oct 28, 2026 for iShares MSCI Japan ETF, and $57.6bn on Oct 27, 2026 for iShares Core MSCI Total International Stock ETF.

EWJ on its own →IXUS on its own →

At a glance

+18.1%

EWJ total return, 1 year

+14.1%

IXUS total return, 1 year

0.49%

EWJ expense ratio

0.07%

IXUS expense ratio

Pair scorecard

IXUS costs 0.42 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 4.0 points; IXUS is 2.4 times larger.

EWJ vs IXUS: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	EWJ	IXUS
Return
Measure	EWJ	IXUS
Total return, 1 year	+18.1%	+14.1%
Drawdown
Measure	EWJ	IXUS
Below its high	4.4%, high on Oct 6, 2026	4.9%, high on Sep 4, 2026
Benchmark
Measure	EWJ	IXUS
What it tracks	MSCI Japan Index	MSCI ACWI ex USA IMI
Cost and size
Measure	EWJ	IXUS
Expense ratio	0.49%	0.07%
Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026	$23.8bn	$57.6bn
Holdings
Measure	EWJ	IXUS
Holdings in common	12%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund	29.5%	13.5%

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 ACWX

EWJ IXUS

Return

Total return edge EWJ +234.4% +177.4%

Annualized edge EWJ +9.0% +7.5%

Price return edge EWJ +159.1% +90.2%

Risk

Volatility edge IXUS (slight) 17.1% 15.8%

Max drawdown edge EWJ (slight) −32.5% −34.6%

Downside capture 91.9% 99.4%

Beta 0.88 0.99

Risk-adjusted

Sharpe edge EWJ 0.48 0.42

Sortino edge EWJ 0.69 0.59

Treynor 0.094 0.068

Calmar edge EWJ 0.28 0.22

Against the benchmark

Alpha +2.5% a year +0.3% a year

Alpha t-stat 0.96 0.64

Information ratio 0.18 0.14

Tracking error 9.9% 1.5%

Reading

EWJ returned more: +234.4% to +177.4%. IXUS swung slightly less: 15.8% to 17.1%. EWJ fell slightly less at its worst: −32.5% to −34.6%.

Full scorecard

19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓

Risk and return: EWJ vs IXUS: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	EWJ	IXUS	ACWX	Edge	How it is measured
Return
Total return	+234.4%	+177.4%		EWJ	Price change plus distributions, reinvested.
Annualized	+9.0%	+7.5%		EWJ	Total return as a yearly rate.
Price return	+159.1%	+90.2%		EWJ	Price change alone, distributions left out.
Risk
Volatility	17.1%	15.8%		IXUS (slight)	Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier.
Downside deviation	11.9%	11.3%		IXUS (slight)	Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate.
Max drawdown	−32.5%	−34.6%		EWJ (slight)	Deepest fall from a high to the low after it.
Upside capture	90.5%	99.6%	100.0%	IXUS (slight)	Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose.
Downside capture	91.9%	99.4%	100.0%	EWJ (slight)	Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better.
Beta	0.88	0.99	1.00	EWJ lower	How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves.
R squared	0.67	0.99	1.00	Not an edge	Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains.
Risk-adjusted
Sharpe	0.48	0.42		EWJ	Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility.
Sortino	0.69	0.59		EWJ	Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation.
Treynor	0.094	0.068	0.065	EWJ	Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta.
Calmar	0.28	0.22		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	+0.3% a year	0.0%	Not significant	Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts.
Alpha t-stat	0.96	0.64		Not an edge	How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance.
Alpha range	−2.6% to +7.6%	−0.5% to +1.1%		Both include zero	The 95% range for the yearly alpha.
Information ratio	0.18	0.14		EWJ	Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error.
Tracking error	9.9%	1.5%	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

12%

By the books each fund has filed, EWJ and IXUS hold 12% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Oct 27, 2026.

50%

0 half 100%

half

12% in common

Positions both hold · largest shared weight first EWJ IXUS

MITSUBISHI UFJ FINANCIAL GROUP 4.40% 0.55%

TOYOTA MOTOR 3.59% 0.45%

ADVANTEST 3.03% 0.38%

HITACHI 3.03% 0.38%

RECRUIT HOLDINGS LTD 3.03% 0.38%

SONY GROUP 2.89% 0.36%

SUMITOMO MITSUI FINANCIAL GROUP 2.83% 0.35%

TOKYO ELECTRON 2.55% 0.32%

MIZUHO FINANCIAL GROUP 2.15% 0.27%

SOFTBANK GROUP CORP 2.03% 0.25%

TOKIO MARINE HOLDINGS 1.90% 0.24%

KEYENCE 1.82% 0.23%

Only in one fund ↓

Only in EWJ

JPY/USD 0.00%

TOPIX INDEX DEC 26 0.00%

Only in IXUS

TAIWAN SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING 4.39%

SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS LTD 1.90%

ASML HOLDING 1.53%

SK HYNIX 1.35%

ROCHE PS PAR AG 0.82%

SHELL 0.73%

TENCENT HOLDINGS 0.73%

HSBC HOLDINGS PLC 0.72%

Check overlap with more funds →

Side by side

EWJ iShares MSCI Japan ETF IXUS iShares Core MSCI Total International Stock ETF

Where it sits Stock ETF Stock ETF

Issuer iShares iShares

What it is Tracks the MSCI Japan Tracks the MSCI Total International Stock

Total return, 1 year +18.1% +14.1%

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

Gap to its benchmark +3.8 pts vs ACWX −0.2 pts vs ACWX

Expense ratio 0.49% 0.07%

Already in the S&P 500 0.0% 0.0%

Holdings 169 4584

Net assets, EWJ as of Oct 28, 2026 and IXUS as of Oct 27, 2026 $23.9bn $57.6bn

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

Client brief · page 1 of 2 Report BR-85466492A2

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

What each follows. EWJ follows MSCI Japan Index and IXUS follows MSCI ACWI ex USA IMI.
Holdings in common. 12% 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 IXUS +14.1% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 4.0 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.

IXUS

IXUS tracks the MSCI Total International Stock. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +14.1% 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 4,584 positions, with the top ten at 13.5%. It sat 4.9% below its high of Sep 4, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, EWJ or IXUS?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, EWJ returned +18.1% and IXUS +14.1%.
Which is cheaper, EWJ or IXUS?: IXUS 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.
How much do EWJ and IXUS overlap with the S&P 500?: By their latest filed holdings, 0% of EWJ and 0% of IXUS by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Other comparisons

EWJ vs VEU EWJ vs IDEV EWJ vs VXUS ACWX vs EWJ EWT vs IXUS EWZ vs IXUS EZU vs IXUS IXUS vs VPL

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

EWJ filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

EWJ prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

iShares page for EWJ ↗

IXUS filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

IXUS prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

iShares page for IXUS ↗

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 IXUS, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/ewj-vs-ixus

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