Investors seeking to diversify an equity portfolio should look to international markets to broaden their exposure, including timely Japan ETFs.
For example, the Deutsche X-trackers Japan JPX-Nikkei 400 Equity ETF (NYSEArca: JPN), which recently lowered its annual fee to 0.09% from 0.15%, making it one of the least expensive Japan ETFs on the market, can help investors access the Japanese markets.
The JPX-Nikkei 400 Index was launched in January 2014 as a means of reinvigorating the Japanese equity market. Unlike traditional market capitalization-weighted indexing methodologies, the JPX-Nikkei 400 Index employs a rigorous screening process based on return on equity, cumulative operating profit and market capitalization to select high-quality, capital-efficient Japanese companies.
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Compared to the benchmark MSCI Japan Index, the JPX-Nikkei 400 Index is slightly less top heavy. Specifically, Toyota Motor is only 1.7% and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is 1.3% of JPN’s underlying portfolio, whereas the MSCI Japan Index takes a heftier 4.6% and 2.2% position in the two companies, respectively.
JPN is down 1.4% year-to-date and gained 15.4% over the past year.