iShares MSCI All Country Asia ex Japan ETF
$118.09−2.19 (−1.82%)
- Expense ratio
- 0.72%
- Fund size
- $4.1B
- 1Y return
- +33.6%
- Yield · Last 12 months
- 1.28%
- Holdings
- 949
- Volume · 30D
- 0.6M sh
- NAV per share
- $120.28
- 52W range
The ETF.net AAXJ Grade
Score 52 of 100 sits in the C band. Bands: A ≥ 70, B ≥ 55, C ≥ 40, D ≥ 25, F < 25; the scale skips E.
Cost
What you pay to own it — the expense ratio plus trading frictions, ranked within its category.FScore 10Category rankMission
How faithfully it does the job it claims — tracking its mandate or index with minimal slippage.AScore 100Category rankRisk
How violently it can move — volatility, drawdown depth, and downside capture versus its category.CScore 40Category rankTradability
How cheaply and easily you can get in and out — liquidity, spread, and premium/discount stability.BScore 68Category rankHoldings
What it actually owns — the quality, breadth, and concentration of the underlying portfolio.CScore 48Category rankDurability
Whether it will still be here — the fund’s assets, age, flows, and issuer staying power.BScore 67Category rank
Our read on AAXJ
CThe regional Asia trade with Japan carved out: roughly 900 large- and mid-cap stocks from developed and emerging markets, in one ticker since 2008. You pay up for that precision.
The fund tracks an index of large- and mid-cap equities from developed and emerging Asian countries, excluding Japan, providing regional international equity exposure.
Why people hold it
- One ticket, roughly 900 large- and mid-cap Asian stocks, spanning both developed and emerging markets under a single index rulebook.
- Running since 2008 and now a multi-billion-dollar fund that trades actively, so getting in and out is rarely the hard part.
- Japan sits outside the MSCI AC Asia ex Japan index by design, leaving investors free to size Japan exposure on their own terms.
Worth knowing
- At 0.72% a year, the fee runs well above the 0.28% typical of its peer group and far above broad international index funds like IXUS at 0.07%.
- Emerging Asian markets are baked into the mandate, so currency moves and local market swings ride along with the developed-market names.
- Cash comes back once or twice a year rather than monthly.
AAXJ Holdings
- Stocks
- 949
- 43%
- 2330.TW
Sectors
- Technology47.2%
- Financials17.7%
- Consumer Discr.8.7%
- Industrials7.0%
- Communication6.0%
- Materials3.3%
- Health Care3.0%
- Energy2.3%
- Cons. Staples2.0%
- Utilities1.5%
- Real Estate1.4%
Geography
- Taiwan31.99%
- South Korea23.50%
- China20.03%
- India12.25%
- Hong Kong4.78%
- Singapore3.76%
- Thailand1.04%
- Malaysia0.98%
- 1.65%
Developed 9% · Emerging 91%
AAXJ Performance
Shows how $10,000 changes over the selected period, with cash distributions reinvested at the closing price on each ex-dividend date.
Returns run to the Sep 22, 2026 close, with cash distributions reinvested. Each period starts on the same date that many months or years earlier. Periods over one year show the average yearly return.
| Period | AAXJ |
|---|---|
| Year to date | +29.6% |
| 1 month | +3.4% |
| 3 months | −3.2% |
| 1 year | +33.6% |
| 3 years | +25.6% |
| 5 years | +9.0% |
| 10 years | +9.0% |
Calendar-year total return with cash distributions hypothetically reinvested at the ex-dividend date’s closing price. The current year shows year to date.
| Year | Return bar | AAXJ |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 YTD | +29.6% | |
| 2025 | +31.5% | |
| 2024 | +10.4% | |
| 2023 | +5.2% | |
| 2022 | −20.4% | |
| 2021 | −5.7% | |
| 2020 | +23.4% |
AAXJ in the news
ETF.net Research hasn’t filed on AAXJ yet — coverage lands here as it’s written.
AAXJ Dividends
- 1.28%
- $1.55
- $0.42 per share
- Twice a year
Distribution history
| Ex-date | Pay date | Amount per share |
|---|---|---|
| Jun 15, 2026 | Jun 18, 2026 | $0.42 |
| Dec 16, 2025 | Dec 19, 2025 | $1.12 |
| Jun 16, 2025 | Jun 20, 2025 | $0.56 |
| Dec 17, 2024 | Dec 20, 2024 | $1.07 |
| Jun 11, 2024 | Jun 17, 2024 | $0.27 |
| Dec 20, 2023 | Dec 27, 2023 | $1.11 |
| Jun 7, 2023 | Jun 13, 2023 | $0.40 |
| Dec 13, 2022 | Dec 19, 2022 | $0.79 |
| Jun 9, 2022 | Jun 15, 2022 | $0.34 |
| Dec 13, 2021 | Dec 17, 2021 | $1.55 |
| Jun 10, 2021 | Jun 16, 2021 | $0.28 |
| Dec 14, 2020 | Dec 18, 2020 | $0.68 |
AAXJ Risk
- 16.5%
How it’s calculated: standard deviation
The sample standard deviation of monthly total returns, multiplied by the square root of 12.
Uses up to 36 complete months, with at least 12 required. Total returns include reinvested distributions.
- 1.10
How it’s calculated: Sharpe ratio
Subtract each month’s Treasury-bill return from the fund’s monthly total return.
Divide the average of those excess returns by their sample standard deviation, then multiply by the square root of 12.
Uses up to 36 complete months, with at least 12 required. Each month uses the Treasury yield quoted at the end of the previous month.
- −36.3%
How it’s calculated: maximum drawdown
The largest percentage decline from an earlier peak, using total returns with reinvested distributions.
Uses up to five years through the last close, with at least 12 months required.
- 1.04
How it’s calculated: beta
The beta figure is supplied by FMP. The comparison index depends on the fund’s broad asset class.
AAXJ Cost
- The middle half of Asia-Pacific Region funds
- Median 0.19%
Every other Asia-Pacific Region fund charges less.