Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
EWJ vs URTH: Differences, Returns & Fees
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, EWJ returned +18.1% to URTH's +13.1%; 6% 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 $8.9bn for iShares MSCI World ETF.
Pair scorecard
URTH costs 0.25 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 5.0 points; EWJ is 2.7 times larger.
| Measure | EWJ | URTH |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +18.1% | +13.1% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Below its high | 4.4%, high on Oct 6, 2026 | |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | MSCI Japan Index | MSCI World Index |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.49% | 0.24% |
| Net assets | $23.9bn | $8.9bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 6% | |
| Top ten holdings, share of the fund | 29.5% | 27.2% |
Holdings in common uses holdings dated Oct 27, 2026. Method
Risk and return
Jan 20, 2012 to Oct 23, 2026 · 770 weekly returnsEach against its own benchmark: EWJ against ACWX, Apr 11, 2008 to Oct 23, 2026; URTH against ACWI, Jan 20, 2012 to Oct 23, 2026.
URTH returned more: +421.6% to +224.4%. URTH swung slightly less: 15.6% to 17.0%. EWJ and URTH fell about the same at their worst: −32.5% and −32.7%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | EWJ | URTH | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +224.4% | +421.6% | URTH | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +8.3% | +11.8% | URTH | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | +148.9% | +296.2% | URTH | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 17.0% | 15.6% | URTH (slight) | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 11.8% | 10.9% | URTH (slight) | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −32.5% | −32.7% | Tie | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Upside capture | 75.1% | 96.3% | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. | |
| Downside capture | 87.1% | 96.5% | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. | |
| Beta | 0.76 | 0.98 | Not an edge | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 0.67 | 0.92 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | 0.45 | 0.68 | URTH | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 0.65 | 0.97 | URTH | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Treynor | 0.071 | 0.109 | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. | |
| Calmar | 0.25 | 0.36 | URTH | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
| Against the benchmark | ||||
| Benchmark | ACWX | ACWI | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | +1.6% a year | +0.9% a year | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | 0.65 | 0.79 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. |
| Alpha range | −3.2% to +6.4% | −1.4% to +3.2% | Includes zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. |
| Information ratio | 0.03 | 0.16 | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 11.6% | 4.5% | Not an edge | How far weekly returns stray from the benchmark, annualized. |
Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 770 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
What they share
By the books each fund has filed, EWJ and URTH hold 6% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Oct 27, 2026.
half
6% in common
Only in one fund ↓
Side by side
EWJ and URTH on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
EWJ and URTH do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?
- What each follows. EWJ follows MSCI Japan Index and URTH follows MSCI World Index.
- Holdings in common. 6% 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 URTH +13.1% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 5.0 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.
URTH
URTH tracks the MSCI World. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +13.1% with distributions reinvested, against +13.4% for its benchmark, the MSCI All Country World Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.24% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026, 69% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 1,254 positions, with the top ten at 27.2%.
Questions people ask
- Which returned more over the last year, EWJ or URTH?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, EWJ returned +18.1% and URTH +13.1%.
- Which is cheaper, EWJ or URTH?
- URTH is cheaper, by 0.25 percentage points a year. That is about $25 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 URTH, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/ewj-vs-urth
ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). EWJ against URTH. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/ewj-vs-urth
[EWJ against URTH (ETFIQ, Oct 28, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/ewj-vs-urth)
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