iShares MSCI Japan Value ETF

EWJV tracks a multi-factor-selected, market cap-weighted portfolio of Japanese equities.

Japan's equities gained traction due to Warren Buffett's interest and regulatory actions aimed at improving investor sentiment, with notable companies like Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group seeing price increases. BlackRock's iShares MSCI Japan Value ETF targets large- and mid-cap Japanese equities with value characteristics, but its performance hasn't outpaced the broader Japanese market. Japan's long-term economic challenges include deflation and demographic issues, but companies like Toyota and Honda maintain strong global presence and profitability.

EWJV: Does Value Investing In Japan Deliver Alpha?

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Today's data were a mixed bag, but the Bank of Japan will pay more attention to the sharp rise in Tokyo's inflation. Tokyo consumer prices rose more than expected to 2.6% YoY (vs 2.2% in July, 2.3% market consensus).

Japan: Hotter Than Expected Inflation, Output Rebound Should Support The BoJ's Policy Normalization

Japan's economy enjoyed a strong second quarter, according to official data, which corroborates recent robust survey data. Gross domestic product rose 0.8% in the three months to June, according to initial estimates from the Cabinet Office.

Third Quarter Economy Signals Sought From Flash PMI Data After Japan GDP Shows Rebound

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The “real” policy rate is massively negative, with the new policy rate of 0.25% far below Core CPI of 2.6%. When QT reaches about ¥3 trillion per month in 2026, it would represent a reduction of its JGB holdings of about 0.5% per month.

BoJ Hikes By 25 Bps And Starts QT: Too Little Too Late, But In Right Direction To Prop Up The Plunging Yen

EWJV provides low-cost access to 134 large and mid-cap Japanese stocks with value characteristics. Despite outperforming developed markets by over 2x during the past year, EWJV's valuations still look reasonable. The growth landscape does not look too alluring in Japan.

EWJV ETF: Better To Wait For A Pullback

Japan has been struggling for some time to generate enough velocity in inflation to escape the gravitational pull of deflation. The story for the rest of 2024 and into 2025 is now centered on whether inflation will be sustained at the BOJ's 2% target.

Escape Velocity: Japan's Drift Toward Sustained Inflation

In March, the Bank of Japan abolished its 8-year-old negative interest rate policy, hiking rates for the first time in 17 years by raising its benchmark rate to 0-0.1%. To combat inflation while also avoiding an excessive surge in interest payments, the BOJ is considering passive quantitative tightening.

What's The Next Step For The Bank of Japan?

We'd rather downplay the weaker-than-expected manufacturing data and focus on a solid recovery in retail sales and a reacceleration in inflation, which will be welcomed by the Bank of Japan. Inflation has been quite choppy due to various government programmes and utility prices.

Mixed Japanese Data Supports BoJ's Policy Normalization

By end-April 2024, Japanese equities had outperformed the FTSE All-World index over 12 months and in the year to date. Japan has undertaken significant structural corporate reforms in recent years.

What Has Led To Japan's Come-Back?

A weak yen is unlikely to end the positive momentum in Japanese equities. The drivers of the recent rally remain, so we stay overweight Japanese stocks.

Weak Yen Unlikely To End Japan's Rally

The long-term case for investing in Japan's stock market may still be strong, despite short-term concerns about the Yen's volatility. The iShares MSCI Japan Value ETF is a value-driven option for investors interested in Japanese stocks trading at discounts to their intrinsic worth. The EWJV ETF's portfolio consists of well-established companies like Toyota, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, and Mitsubishi Corp, with a focus on undervalued businesses with solid fundamentals.

EWJV: A Value Tilted Japan Fund That Works

March activity data was a mixed bag in Japan. Weak manufacturing weighed on growth in the first quarter of the year.

Japanese Industrial Production Strengthens As Retail Sales Disappoint

Inflation slowed down in March but underlying inflationary pressures are still alive. The BoJ's pause at its next week's meeting is widely expected but markets will pay more attention to the BoJ's quarterly outlook report.

Cooler Inflation Ahead Of The Bank of Japan Meeting

Japan's equity benchmark, the Nikkei 225 Index, has been on a tear in 2024, eclipsing its previous high set back in 1989. As of early April, the index is hovering near 40,000. Solid economic growth, a revamp in the country's tax-free stock investment program and corporate governance reform have helped propel Japanese equities to record highs.

Can Japan's Stock Market Continue Its Record-Setting Run?

The Bank of Japan is set to normalise monetary policy when certain conditions are met, namely inflation, positive real cash earnings, and a recovery in domestic demand growth. We expect the window for normalisation to open from July for about a year before inflation begins to fall below 2%.

The Bank of Japan's New Path Ahead

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The Bank of Japan's historic move to end the country's negative interest rate policy after nearly two decades triggered a jolt upward to new all-time highs for gold against the yen. The BoJ announced it will now hold short-term rates at a still-accommodative 0% to 0.1% and is getting rid of its yield curve control program and ETF purchases.

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Japan's private sector picked up growth momentum into the end of the first quarter, according to flash PMI data.

Japan Flash PMI Signals Accelerating Growth Momentum And Rising Inflation In March 2024

Kazuo Ueda becomes Governor of the Bank of Japan, continuing the loose monetary policies implemented by his predecessor. The BOJ raises short rates from -0.1% to 0.1%, becoming the last central bank to exit a Negative Interest Rate Policy.

End Of An Era - Bank of Japan Reverses Negative Interest Rate Policy

The Bank of Japan raised interest rates for the first time since 2007 and has eliminated the yield curve control framework. According to the central bank, the virtuous cycle between wages and prices was assessed to have come into sight, bringing the 2% inflation target within a sustainable and stable possibility by the end of fiscal year 2025.

Flash Insights: Bank of Japan - A 'Watchful' Adjustment

The Bank of Japan has now ended decades of unconventional and aggressive monetary easing. Strong wage negotiation results played a crucial role in today's move.

Bank of Japan Pivot Proves Underwhelming For Markets

Japan's private sector activity broadly stagnated in February according to flash PMI data, attributed to a combination of slowing services activity growth and an acceleration in manufacturing output contraction. A sharper decline in goods new orders, underpinned by sluggish demand conditions, also largely offset improved demand for services.

Flash PMI Signal Cooling Inflation And Stagnating Private Sector Activity In Japan

The iShares MSCI Japan Value ETF is similar to the iShares MSCI Japan ETF but with IT exposure mostly eliminated and redistributed into other sectors. EWJV may have more potential due to corporate governance considerations and a weaker Yen, making it a good pick for long-term investors despite Japan's run-up. EWJV has a lower expense ratio than EWJ, which is unusual, which is another reason to prefer it among the two.

EWJV: Weak Yen Favours Market

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While the China macro story of ongoing transition is a headwind to the rest of Asia, there is more to the region's economic health than this.

Asia-Pacific Is Not Just China

Japan's economic growth is projected to decelerate to 0.9% in 2024 and 0.8% in 2025. Government policies have helped the recovery of Japanese stocks and will continue to be a positive factor going forward.

News for iShares MSCI Japan Value ETF ETF (EWJV)