iShares MSCI Japan Screened UCITS ETF

What this fund is

iShares MSCI Japan Screened UCITS ETF is an exchange-traded fund (ETF) from iShares, traded under the ticker SAJP (ISIN IE00BFNM3L97). One trade buys a whole basket of holdings, so your money is spread out instead of riding on a single company. In plain terms it is about owning small slices of companies, so you share in their growth when they do well — and their falls when they don't, spread across its target market. Rather than a manager picking stocks, it simply replicates the MSCI Japan index — the passive, low-cost approach, and its largest holdings include MITSUBISHI UFJ FINANCIAL GROUP INC, TOKYO ELECTRON LTD and TOYOTA MOTOR CORP. It holds around 159 positions (the ten largest ≈ 31.7%), spreading risk so no single holding decides your outcome.

Geographically it leans ~100% Japan and ~0% United States. Its heaviest sectors are ~22.7% Industrials and ~22.4% Technology. It is commonly used to tilt a portfolio towards one market, usually alongside broader, more global funds rather than on its own. Its ongoing charge (TER) is 0.15% a year — about €15 a year on a €10,000 holding, taken automatically from the fund. Income such as dividends is automatically reinvested inside the fund (an accumulating share class), so returns compound without you doing anything.

It holds the underlying investments directly (physical replication); it is domiciled in Ireland and UCITS-regulated, a European standard built to protect everyday investors and trades in USD. Its price has swung about 28.5% over the past year, which describes how much its price tends to move rather than whether it is good. It launched in 2018. As with any investment, its value can go down as well as up, and past performance is not a guide to future results. (Fund data sourced from iShares.)