JPY vs SCJ

JPYCLazard Japanese Equity ETF

SCJAiShares MSCI Japan Small-Cap ETF

In short

JPY Most Japan ETFs just buy the index. JPY hands the stock picking to Lazard's Japan team, which has run the strategy for decades, and holds a concentrated, non-diversified slice of the market instead.

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

JPY The Portfolio seeks long-term capital appreciation.

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

Why people hold it

• JPY Active, not index-tracking: a local, bilingual Lazard team chooses the names, a rarity in a category where the biggest funds simply replicate a Japan benchmark.lazardassetmanagement.com
• The prospectus commits at least 80% of net assets to equities traded on Japanese markets, and the portfolio has stayed tightly inside that Japan-only lane.yahoo.com
• Launched in 2025 as one of Lazard's first US active ETFs, putting a long-running institutional Japan strategy into an exchange-traded wrapper.lazard.com

• 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

• JPY Costs 0.60% a year, above the typical Japan fund and well above index trackers like FLJP and FLJH at 0.09%. Research is what the premium buys.
• A 2025 launch, modest in size and thinly traded, so spreads can run wider than at the giant Japan trackers and there is little history to judge.
• Non-diversified and concentrated: a handful of names drive results, which can land far from the broad Japan market in either direction.yahoo.com

• 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 JPY profile⁠

Full SCJ profile⁠