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iShares Japan ETFEWJCOMMENTApr 01, 2013Stock price when the opinion was issued
As of Jun 18, 2026. Market Open.
Japan is coming out of a long bear market and has performed consistently over the past year along with the yen stabilizing. Warren Buffet has been buying over the past year. There are lots of industrial, including electronics companies, as well as financials in its holdings. It is a good way of diversifying your portfolio.
vs. EWY (Korea) Japan is where many have made big mistakes, getting too bullish, too early. He struggles with its demographics and GDP, but tailwinds include nobody believes in it anymore. Better to look at SCJ-N (small caps) which trades below book value. Catalysts in Japan include a major fiscal stimulus. He prefers EWY (South Korea)--see top picks, which has been caught in the US-China trade war.
Invesing in the Japanese market, would you choose iShares Japan C$ Hedge ETF (CJP-T) or iShares Japan ETF (EWJ-N)? He would choose CJP because it is Canadian listed and a fundamental ETF. It is rebalanced and the selection is based on momentum and value criteria, total sales and price-to-book. This is based on the MSCI Japan index. He much prefers fundamental indexes versus straight MSCI indexes.