iShares MSCI Japan Small-Cap ETF
$109.07−1.53 (−1.38%)
- Expense ratio
- 0.50%
- Fund size
- $265M
- 1Y return
- +22.3%
- Yield · Last 12 months
- 2.64%
- Holdings
- 765
- Volume · 30D
- 0M sh
- NAV per share
- $110.47
- 52W range
The ETF.net SCJ Grade
Score 74 of 100 sits in the A 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.BScore 56Category rankMission
How faithfully it does the job it claims — tracking its mandate or index with minimal slippage.AScore 95Category rankRisk
How violently it can move — volatility, drawdown depth, and downside capture versus its category.AScore 74Category 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.AScore 87Category rankDurability
Whether it will still be here — the fund’s assets, age, flows, and issuer staying power.BScore 68Category rank
Our read on SCJ
AJapan past the household-name exporters. SCJ holds roughly 800 of the country's smaller listed companies, the domestic slice that large-cap Japan benchmarks leave out, and it has been running that mandate since 2007.
The fund seeks to track an index composed of small-capitalization Japanese equities.
Why people hold it
- One job, done tightly: it tracks the MSCI Japan Small Cap Index, roughly 800 names deep, the part of the market big blue-chip Japan benchmarks leave on the floor.ishares.com
- Trading since 2007, so there is a long live record here, not a backtest, and it has stayed tight to its index over that stretch.
- About 800 holdings means no single stock carries the portfolio, and the 0.50% fee sits right at the median for single-country Japan funds.
Worth knowing
- 0.50% a year is the going rate for the niche, but broad Japan trackers like FLJP (0.09%) and BBJP (0.19%) charge a fraction. Small-cap coverage is the upcharge.
- Moderately traded, and Tokyo is closed while US markets are open, so spreads and price-to-value gaps can widen at the edges of the session.
- Unhedged: the holdings are priced in yen, so currency swings land on top of the stock moves, in both directions. Distributions come once or twice a year.ishares.com
SCJ Holdings
- Stocks
- 765
- 6%
- 6963.T
Sectors
- Industrials26.3%
- Consumer Discr.15.6%
- Technology12.0%
- Financials11.9%
- Materials9.5%
- Real Estate7.3%
- Cons. Staples6.5%
- Health Care5.3%
- Communication3.0%
- Utilities2.1%
- Energy0.6%
Geography
- Japan99.99%
- United States0.01%
Developed 100% · Emerging 0%
SCJ 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 | SCJ |
|---|---|
| Year to date | +21.5% |
| 1 month | +2.1% |
| 3 months | +4.1% |
| 1 year | +22.3% |
| 3 years | +19.7% |
| 5 years | +7.6% |
| 10 years | +7.8% |
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 | SCJ |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 YTD | +21.5% | |
| 2025 | +29.6% | |
| 2024 | +3.4% | |
| 2023 | +13.2% | |
| 2022 | −12.7% | |
| 2021 | −2.9% | |
| 2020 | +7.5% |
SCJ in the news
ETF.net Research hasn’t filed on SCJ yet — coverage lands here as it’s written.
SCJ Dividends
- 2.64%
- $2.92
- $0.92 per share
- Twice a year
Distribution history
| Ex-date | Pay date | Amount per share |
|---|---|---|
| Jun 15, 2026 | Jun 18, 2026 | $0.92 |
| Dec 16, 2025 | Dec 19, 2025 | $2.00 |
| Jun 16, 2025 | Jun 20, 2025 | $0.89 |
| Dec 17, 2024 | Dec 20, 2024 | $0.60 |
| Jun 11, 2024 | Jun 17, 2024 | $0.71 |
| Dec 20, 2023 | Dec 27, 2023 | $0.93 |
| Jun 7, 2023 | Jun 13, 2023 | $0.50 |
| Jun 9, 2022 | Jun 15, 2022 | $0.76 |
| Dec 13, 2021 | Dec 17, 2021 | $0.82 |
| Jun 10, 2021 | Jun 16, 2021 | $0.59 |
| Jun 15, 2020 | Jun 19, 2020 | $0.70 |
| Dec 16, 2019 | Dec 20, 2019 | $2.12 |
SCJ Risk
- 13.2%
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.
- 1.02
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.
- −31.8%
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.
- 0.83
How it’s calculated: beta
The beta figure is supplied by FMP. The comparison index depends on the fund’s broad asset class.
SCJ Cost
- The middle half of Japan funds
- Median 0.54%
8 of the 18 Japan funds charge less.