iShares MSCI Japan Value ETF

The iShares MSCI Japan Value ETF (EWJV), from BlackRock, tracks the MSCI Japan Value Index. That index holds large and mid-sized Japanese companies that look cheap based on book value, expected earnings and dividend yield. The fund charges 0.15% a year, well below the 0.41% average of similar Japan funds. Its holdings lean heavily toward Japan's big banks and trading houses, and its trailing yield was 4.69% as of October 27, 2026.

• Over the year to Oct 27, 2026, EWJV returned +26.0%, 1st of 6 among similar funds.
• Its 5-year annualized return was +15.5%.
• In the 2020 COVID crash it fell 26.2% and regained its old high 7.9 months after the low.
• Its worst full calendar year was 2022 (-6.0%); its best was 2025 (+34.0%).
• The deepest fall in its price history was 30% (Dec 16, 2019 to Mar 16, 2020), recovered by Dec 15, 2020.

As of Aug 31, 2026, the fund held 110 securities; the ten largest made up 41.75% of assets.

• Over the three months to Aug 31, 2026, investors added a net $19.7M (creations minus redemptions, per the N-PORT report).
• Monthly total returns reported for that quarter: -2.04%, +5.33%, +2.55%.

MSCI Inc., an index provider that is independent of the fund, decides what goes into the MSCI Japan Value Index and how much each stock weighs. It starts with large and mid-sized Japanese companies. It then scores their value traits using three measures: book value to price, expected 12-month earnings to price, and dividend yield. The index is free float-weighted. That means companies with more shares available to the public get bigger weights. As of August 31, 2025, consumer goods and services, financials and industrials made up a large share of the index.

BlackRock Fund Advisors uses "representative sampling." Instead of owning every index stock, the fund may hold a selection that matches the index's overall size, industry mix and yield. At least 80% of assets go into index stocks or close equivalents. Up to 20% can go into futures, options, swaps, cash and other securities. As of August 31, 2026, the fund held 110 companies plus a tiny position in Japanese stock index futures. Portfolio turnover was 36%.

The fund does not try to beat the index, and it does not move into cash when markets fall. It may lend out up to one-third of its assets. Because its price is set in US dollars, a weaker yen lowers its value even when Japanese stocks hold steady.

• EWJV charges 0.15% a year, versus an average of 0.41% for the similar funds below (2nd of 6, cheapest first).
• Using the prospectus's standard example, $10,000 invested would cost about $15 in the first year and $192 over 10 years (assuming a 5% annual return).

It adds low-cost exposure to Japanese value stocks outside the US market, but as a single-country fund it works better next to a broad core holding than as the core itself.

EWJV could add Japanese banks, automakers and trading houses to a portfolio built mostly on US stocks. It launched in 2019, so it has no record from the 2008 crisis. In the 2020 COVID crash it fell 26.2% and recovered in about eight months. Its deepest drop was 30%, from December 2019 to March 2020, and recovery took about nine months. In 2022 it fell 22.7% from its peak and needed about 8.4 months to recover. Even so, it lost only 5.68% for the full year, its worst calendar year. Anyone who had to draw money during those drops would have been selling at low prices.

Its trailing yield was 4.69% as of October 27, 2026. It pays twice a year, so income arrives in uneven chunks, and the dollar amount moves with the yen. The fee is 0.15% a year. In the SEC's standard example, that comes to $192 over 10 years on $10,000. Past results don't predict future ones, and a plan should look at the whole portfolio, not one fund.

Matched by holdings overlap from the latest N-PORT reports.