PAF (PowerShares FTSE RAFI Asia Pacific ex-Japan) is yet another alternative in this space, and is based on the RAFI proprietary index methodologies that screen fundamental measures such as book value, income, sales, and dividends.
AXJS (iShares MSCI All Country Asia ex-Japan Small Cap) is a newer product that debuted in February of this year, and as its name suggests, grants exposure to small cap equity markets in Asia ex- Japan.
Year to date, EPP has edged out PAF slightly in terms of performance, having rallied 11.68% versus PAF’s 11.63% return. AXJL is up 10.97% and AAXJ up 8.64% YTD.
This can be compared to the “benchmark” Japan equity market index, EWJ (iShares MSCI Japan) which is up only 1.32% YTD.
iShares MSCI All Country Asia ex Japan
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