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Is WisdomTree Japan Hedged Equity ETF (DXJ) a Strong ETF Right Now?

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Designed to provide broad exposure to the Asia-Pacific (Developed) ETFs category of the market, the WisdomTree Japan Hedged Equity ETF (DXJ - Free Report) is a smart beta exchange traded fund launched on 06/16/2006.

What Are Smart Beta ETFs?

Market cap weighted indexes were created to reflect the market, or a specific segment of the market, and the ETF industry has traditionally been dominated by products based on this strategy.

Market cap weighted indexes offer a low-cost, convenient, and transparent way of replicating market returns, and are a good option for investors who believe in market efficiency.

But, there are some investors who would rather invest in smart beta funds; these funds track non-cap weighted strategies, and are a strong option for those who prefer choosing great stocks in order to beat the market.

By attempting to pick stocks that have a better chance of risk-return performance, non-cap weighted indexes are based on certain fundamental characteristics, or a combination of such.

Methodologies like equal-weighting, one of the simplest options out there, fundamental weighting, and volatility/momentum based weighting are all choices offered to investors in this space, but not all of them can deliver superior returns.

Fund Sponsor & Index

The fund is managed by Wisdomtree. DXJ has been able to amass assets over $6.29 billion, making it one of the larger ETFs in the Asia-Pacific (Developed) ETFs. DXJ seeks to match the performance of the WisdomTree Japan Hedged Equity Index before fees and expenses.

The WisdomTree Japan Hedged Equity Index is designed to provide exposure to Japanese equity markets while at the same time neutralizing exposure to fluctuations of the Japanese Yen movements relative to the U.S. dollar.

Cost & Other Expenses

Investors should also pay attention to an ETF's expense ratio. Lower cost products will produce better results than those with a higher cost, assuming all other metrics remain the same.

With on par with most peer products in the space, this ETF has annual operating expenses of 0.48%.

The fund has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 1.13%.

Sector Exposure and Top Holdings

It is important to delve into an ETF's holdings before investing despite the many upsides to these kinds of funds like diversified exposure, which minimizes single stock risk. And, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.

When you look at individual holdings, Japanese Yen (jpy)accounts for about 100% of the fund's total assets, followed by Toyota Motor Corp and Mitsubishi Ufj Financial Group.

The top 10 holdings account for about 127.89% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

So far this year, DXJ has added roughly 14.96%, and is up about 67.03% in the last one year (as of 04/17/2026). During this past 52-week period, the fund has traded between $101.03 and $170.14.

DXJ has a beta of 0.38 and standard deviation of 20.08% for the trailing three-year period, which makes the fund a medium risk choice in the space. With about 434 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk .

Alternatives

WisdomTree Japan Hedged Equity ETF is a reasonable option for investors seeking to outperform the Asia-Pacific (Developed) ETFs segment of the market. However, there are other ETFs in the space which investors could consider.

JPMorgan BetaBuilders Japan ETF (BBJP) tracks MORNINGSTAR JAPAN TRGT MRKT EXPOSURE ID and the iShares MSCI Japan ETF (EWJ) tracks MSCI Japan Index. JPMorgan BetaBuilders Japan ETF has $16.13 billion in assets, iShares MSCI Japan ETF has $20.07 billion. BBJP has an expense ratio of 0.19% and EWJ changes 0.49%.

Investors looking for cheaper and lower-risk options should consider traditional market cap weighted ETFs that aim to match the returns of the Asia-Pacific (Developed) ETFs

Bottom Line

To learn more about this product and other ETFs, screen for products that match your investment objectives and read articles on latest developments in the ETF investing universe, please visit Zacks ETF Center.

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