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

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, EWJ returned +18.1% and VYMI +22.3%.

Which is cheaper, EWJ or VYMI?

VYMI 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 VYMI overlap with the S&P 500?

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

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

Across categories

EWJ vs VYMI: Differences, Returns & Fees

Share on X Download as PDF

Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, EWJ returned +18.1% to VYMI's +22.3%; 10% of their weight is in the same names.

askIQ about this page

askIQ about EWJ and VYMI

Net assets: $23.9bn on Oct 28, 2026 for iShares MSCI Japan ETF, and $21.4bn on Sep 30, 2026 for Vanguard International High Dividend Yield ETF.

EWJ on its own →VYMI on its own →

At a glance

+18.1%

EWJ total return, 1 year

+22.3%

VYMI total return, 1 year

0.49%

EWJ expense ratio

0.07%

VYMI expense ratio

Pair scorecard

VYMI costs 0.42 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 4.2 points; EWJ is 1.1 times larger.

EWJ vs VYMI: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	EWJ	VYMI
Return
Measure	EWJ	VYMI
Total return, 1 year	+18.1%	+22.3%
Drawdown
Measure	EWJ	VYMI
Below its high	4.4%, high on Oct 6, 2026	4.6%, high on Sep 3, 2026
Benchmark
Measure	EWJ	VYMI
What it tracks	MSCI Japan Index	FTSE All-World ex US High Dividend Yield Index
Cost and size
Measure	EWJ	VYMI
Expense ratio	0.49%	0.07%
Net assets, as of Sep 30, 2026	$23.5bn	$21.4bn
Holdings
Measure	EWJ	VYMI
Holdings in common	10%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund	29.5%	13.8%

Holdings in common uses holdings dated Sep 30, 2026 and Oct 27, 2026. Method

Risk and return

Mar 11, 2016 to Oct 23, 2026 · 554 weekly returns

EWJ VYMI

Return

Total return edge VYMI +151.2% +188.1%

Annualized edge VYMI +9.0% +10.4%

Price return edge EWJ +104.0% +86.8%

Risk

Volatility edge VYMI (slight) 17.2% 15.9%

Max drawdown edge EWJ −32.5% −38.3%

Risk-adjusted

Sharpe edge VYMI 0.45 0.55

Sortino edge VYMI 0.65 0.78

Calmar edge Tie 0.28 0.27

Reading

VYMI returned more: +188.1% to +151.2%. VYMI swung slightly less: 15.9% to 17.2%. EWJ fell less at its worst: −32.5% to −38.3%.

Full scorecard

9 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓

Risk and return: EWJ vs VYMI: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	EWJ	VYMI	Edge	How it is measured
Return
Total return	+151.2%	+188.1%	VYMI	Price change plus distributions, reinvested.
Annualized	+9.0%	+10.4%	VYMI	Total return as a yearly rate.
Price return	+104.0%	+86.8%	EWJ	Price change alone, distributions left out.
Risk
Volatility	17.2%	15.9%	VYMI (slight)	Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier.
Downside deviation	11.9%	11.4%	VYMI (slight)	Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate.
Max drawdown	−32.5%	−38.3%	EWJ	Deepest fall from a high to the low after it.
Risk-adjusted
Sharpe	0.45	0.55	VYMI	Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility.
Sortino	0.65	0.78	VYMI	Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation.
Calmar	0.28	0.27	Tie	Annualized return divided by the max drawdown.

Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 554 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.

What they share

10%

By the books each fund has filed, EWJ and VYMI hold 10% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Sep 30, 2026 and Oct 27, 2026.

50%

0 half 100%

half

10% in common

Positions both hold · largest shared weight first EWJ VYMI

MITSUBISHI UFJ FINANCIAL GROUP 4.40% 1.35%

TOYOTA MOTOR 3.59% 1.03%

SUMITOMO MITSUI FINANCIAL GROUP 2.83% 0.85%

MIZUHO FINANCIAL GROUP 2.15% 0.70%

TOKIO MARINE HOLDINGS 1.90% 0.50%

TAKEDA PHARMACEUTICAL 1.25% 0.31%

KDDI 1.01% 0.28%

JAPAN TOBACCO 1.01% 0.26%

SUMITOMO 0.88% 0.24%

SOFTBANK GROUP CORP 2.03% 0.23%

KOMATSU 0.72% 0.23%

ORIX 0.78% 0.22%

Only in one fund ↓

Only in EWJ

ADVANTEST 3.03%

HITACHI 3.03%

RECRUIT HOLDINGS LTD 3.03%

SONY GROUP 2.89%

TOKYO ELECTRON 2.55%

MITSUBISHI 1.85%

KEYENCE 1.82%

KIOXIA HOLDINGS 1.77%

Only in VYMI

HSBC Holdings PLC 1.81%

Roche Holding AG 1.56%

Shell PLC 1.48%

Royal Bank of Canada 1.47%

Novartis AG 1.42%

Nestle SA 1.25%

MediaTek Inc 1.21%

BHP Group Ltd 1.15%

Check overlap with more funds →

Side by side

EWJ iShares MSCI Japan ETF VYMI Vanguard International High Dividend Yield ETF

Where it sits Stock ETF Stock ETF

Issuer iShares Vanguard

What it is Tracks the MSCI Japan Tracks an index of International High Dividend Yield

Total return, 1 year +18.1% +22.3%

Its benchmark over the same days +14.3% (ACWX) not measured

Gap to its benchmark +3.8 pts vs ACWX not measured

Expense ratio 0.49% 0.07%

Already in the S&P 500 0.0% 0.0%

Holdings 169 1509

Net assets, EWJ as of Oct 28, 2026 and VYMI as of Sep 30, 2026 $23.9bn $21.4bn

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

Client brief · page 1 of 2 Report BR-5F075253B1

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

What each follows. EWJ follows MSCI Japan Index and VYMI follows FTSE All-World ex US High Dividend Yield Index.
Holdings in common. 10% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Oct 27, 2026 and Sep 30, 2026).
One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 EWJ returned +18.1% and VYMI +22.3% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 4.2 points.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

The two-page PDF for this pair is coming. Save the comparison to follow its changes. Free. It needs an email sign-in, once.

Your saved page · Privacy.

Alert

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.

VYMI

VYMI tracks an index of International High Dividend Yield. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +22.3% with distributions reinvested. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.07% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer as of Sep 30, 2026, 0% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 1,509 positions, with the top ten at 13.8%. It sat 4.6% below its high of Sep 3, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, EWJ or VYMI?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, EWJ returned +18.1% and VYMI +22.3%.
Which is cheaper, EWJ or VYMI?: VYMI 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 VYMI overlap with the S&P 500?: By their latest filed holdings, 0% of EWJ and 0% of VYMI by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Other comparisons

EWJ vs FXI EWJ vs ILF EWJ vs FLKR EWJ vs EWJV EWT vs VYMI EWZ vs VYMI EZU vs VYMI VIGI vs VYMI

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

EWJ filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

EWJ prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

iShares page for EWJ ↗

VYMI filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

VYMI prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

Vanguard page for VYMI ↗

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

Open data →

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