FLJH vs SCJ

FLJHAFranklin FTSE Japan Hedged ETF

SCJAiShares MSCI Japan Small-Cap ETF

In short

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.

SCJ Japan 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.

Stated mandate

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.

SCJ The fund seeks to track an index composed of small-capitalization Japanese equities.

Why people hold it

• 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.

• SCJ 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

• 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.

• SCJ 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

Full FLJH profile⁠

Full SCJ profile⁠