The fund tracks the MSCI All Country Asia ex Japan Index. It holds listed companies from China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan and Thailand on a market-cap-weighted basis, spreading investment across Asia with Japan left out.

It suits long-term investors who want to diversify across Asian growth markets in one step without any Japan weighting.

It is a passively managed (index-tracking) ETF run by BlackRock iShares.

The fund replicates the index constituents at their market-cap weights. It does not adjust countries or sectors at its own discretion and follows the index rules as they are, so large-cap stocks from Greater China, Taiwan, India and South Korea naturally carry heavy weights. With a large number of holdings, single-company risk is diversified.

• Excluding Japan gives clear exposure to Asian growth markets
• Developed and emerging Asia are combined in one product
• Asia's signature industries, such as semiconductors and internet platforms, carry large weights

Assets under management (AUM) stand at $3.7B, and the expense ratio is 0.72% per year.

Compared with broad global ETFs, the fee burden is on the higher side, and in exchange you get exposure concentrated in the single region of Asia.

Asian equities have been led in turn by China's policy stance, the semiconductor cycle in Taiwan and South Korea, and India's domestic demand growth. Because country cycles are often out of sync, the movement of the overall index can differ from the direction of any one country.

Demand for one-step exposure to the Asian region is the backbone of fund flows. Inflows tend to rise when risk appetite for emerging markets recovers, and outflows tend to take over when a stronger dollar and worries about a China slowdown overlap.

Its strength is the diversification of covering all of Asia in one product, while its weaknesses are the tilt toward Greater China and a high fee burden.

The VEA, IEFA and EFA shown in the table are broad products centered on developed markets, so their investment universes do not overlap with this fund. The comparison should be viewed only in terms of fee level and fund size, and on those criteria this ETF sits on the high-fee, small-size side. If you want to approach Asia exposure differently, you can also consider options such as EEM and VWO for emerging markets overall, FXI for Chinese large caps, INDA for the single Indian market, and EWY for the single South Korean market.

For Asia regional ETFs, country weights greatly influence performance. Before buying, it is best to first check which countries are included and in what proportion, and whether they overlap with other products you already hold.

Shifts in Chinese policy, geopolitical tension and a downturn in the semiconductor cycle are the main drivers of short-term volatility. In periods when emerging-market currencies weaken together, losses in dollar terms become larger than the decline in the index itself.

This is a product for when you want one-step exposure to Asian growth markets without Japan. If cost is your priority, compare it with lower-fee broad products, and if you want to concentrate on a specific country, compare it with single-country ETFs as well.