BBJP vs FLJH

BBJPAJPMorgan BetaBuilders Japan ETF

FLJHAFranklin FTSE Japan Hedged ETF

In short

BBJP Japan's whole board for 0.19% a year. JPMorgan's BetaBuilders fund holds roughly 170 large and mid-cap Japanese stocks and has grown into a multi-billion-dollar way to own Tokyo without paying legacy-tracker prices.

FLJH Japan stocks with the yen taken out of the equation. FLJH hedges the currency back to dollars for 0.09% a year, the same fee as Franklin's unhedged twin and a fraction of the typical Japan fund.

Stated mandate

BBJP The fund seeks to closely track, before fees and expenses, the performance of a Japan-focused equity index.

FLJH The Fund seeks to closely track, before fees and expenses, the performance of the FTSE Japan Capped Hedged Index through passive indexing, using replication or representative sampling.

Why people hold it

• BBJP 0.19% a year, well under what the older iShares Japan trackers (EWJ at 0.49%, JPXN at 0.48%) charge for similar broad exposure.
• Roughly 170 Japanese large and mid caps in one line item, tracking a Morningstar Japan index closely rather than making stock calls.
• A multi-billion-dollar fund that trades actively, which tends to keep the cost of getting in and out modest.
• Running since 2018 and one of the stronger implementations in the single-country Japan group.

• FLJH 0.09% a year. Currency hedging usually carries a surcharge; here it costs the same as Franklin's unhedged FLJP and far less than the median Japan fund.
• The hedge is the whole point: it aims to strip out yen-dollar moves so what you own is Japanese share prices, not a bet on the currency.
• Broad and deliberately un-top-heavy: roughly 500 Japanese companies tracked through a capped index, so no single name can swell into an outsized slice.
• Live since 2017 and one of the stronger builds in a crowded Japan peer group of index trackers.

Worth knowing

• BBJP One country, one market cycle. Japan-only equity means no cushion from anywhere else when Tokyo has a bad stretch.
• Not the cheapest ticket to Japan: Franklin's FLJP runs 0.09%, and FLJH is the currency-hedged option in the same peer set.
• Distributions land once or twice a year, not quarterly, so income arrives in lumps.

• FLJH The hedge cuts both ways. When the yen strengthens against the dollar, you give up the tailwind an unhedged Japan fund would capture.
• Thinly traded and small next to the Japan heavyweights, so bid-ask spreads can run wider than headline fee comparisons suggest.
• Distributions land once or twice a year, not monthly or quarterly, so income arrives in lumps.

Full BBJP profile⁠

Full FLJH profile⁠