Skip to main content

ETF comparison

EFA vs EWJ

Both International Developed.

iShares MSCI EAFE ETF · iShares MSCI Japan ETF

Holdings overlap

Weighted by ISIN/CUSIP
23.0 %

168 positions appear in both funds. Buying equal dollars of EFA and EWJ would leave roughly 23.0% of each dollar exposed to the same underlying securities.

EFA unmatched 76.7% Shared 23.0% EWJ unmatched 76.8%

Unmatched is the part of a fund's weight the other fund doesn't match: names only it holds, plus any extra weight it puts in names both funds hold.

In EFA only
506 positions
Shared
168 positions
In EWJ only
0 positions

Side by side

EFA

iShares MSCI EAFE ETF

iShares · International Developed

82 composite / 100
Expense ratio
0.32%
Net assets
$76.62B
TTM yield
3.22%
Top-10 conc.
13.9%
EWJ

iShares MSCI Japan ETF

iShares · International Developed

71 composite / 100
Expense ratio
0.49%
Net assets
$23.40B
TTM yield
3.94%
Top-10 conc.
30.1%

Sub-score comparison

68
Cost
51
77
Tax efficiency
75
100
Liquidity
100
94
Concentration
71
—
Tracking quality
—
EFA sub-score EWJ

Tracking quality isn't part of the composite — see what we don't score for why.

Cost difference

EFA is 17 bps cheaper than EWJ. On a $100,000 position that's about $170/yr more in fees for EWJ.

Fee figure is the annual expense charged on $100,000. To see how the gap compounds over a multi-decade holding period, open the cost calculator pre-filled with EFA vs EWJ.

Top shared holdings

168 shared in total
# Holding In EFA In EWJ Overlap
1 Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Inc. 1.08% 4.62% 1.08%
2 TOYOTA MOTOR CORPORATION 0.81% 3.53% 0.81%
3 Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, Inc. 0.71% 2.96% 0.71%
4 Tokyo Electron Limited 0.68% 2.98% 0.68%
5 Hitachi, Ltd. 0.66% 2.85% 0.66%
6 ADVANTEST CORPORATION 0.66% 2.91% 0.66%
7 Sony Group Corporation 0.62% 2.74% 0.62%
8 Mizuho Financial Group, Inc. 0.56% 2.39% 0.56%
9 SoftBank Group Corp. 0.52% 2.27% 0.52%
10 Recruit Holdings Co.,Ltd. 0.47% 2.85% 0.47%
11 KEYENCE CORPORATION 0.43% 1.86% 0.43%
12 FAST RETAILING CO., LTD. 0.42% 1.64% 0.42%

Only in EFA

506 total
  • ASML Holding N.V. 2.90%
  • HSBC HOLDINGS PLC 1.66%
  • Roche Holding AG 1.39%
  • Novartis AG 1.30%
  • Nestle S.A. 1.17%
  • SHELL PLC 1.17%
  • ASTRAZENECA PLC 1.17%
  • Siemens Aktiengesellschaft 1.10%
  • BHP GROUP LIMITED 0.97%
  • COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA 0.95%

Only in EWJ

0 total

Every EWJ position is also held by EFA.

Percentages are holdings overlap with the named fund.

Open EFA or EWJ at a brokerage

Both funds trade commission-free at major US brokerages.

Affiliate links — opening an account through these earns PlainIndex a one-time referral. Scoring is computed before any affiliate consideration; see our methodology and funding disclosure.

Holdings overlap is the sum of min(weight_a, weight_b) over positions matched on ISIN (CUSIP fallback). Methodology: see /methodology/.

Comparing two funds doesn't endorse swapping one for the other. Tax-lot history, account type, and personal goals matter — PlainIndex publishes data and methodology, not investment advice.