Now I can see why retail investors would be drawn to DXJ.

FORBES: Riding The Japanese Bull Without The Yen Drag

After all, DXJ tracks a fairly obscure (by industry benchmarking standards) WisdomTree index that is rarely, if ever, used by institutions as a benchmark.

FORBES: Riding The Japanese Bull Without The Yen Drag

The most popular product is the WisdomTree Japan Hedged Equity (DXJ).

FORBES: Riding The Japanese Bull Without The Yen Drag

You can see the effect of that currency hedge today, with the EWJ up 4.1%, but the DXJ, without the drag of the yen, is up 7.4%.

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The WisdomTree Japan Total Dividend Index ( DXJ) has a current yield of 1.85%, trades an average of 176, 000 per day, and has an expense ratio of 0.48%.

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After all, the creation unit cost for DBJP is less than half of that for DXJ (0.04% vs. 0.10%) despite the fact that DBJP has nearly 100 more holdings in its portfolio.

FORBES: Riding The Japanese Bull Without The Yen Drag

While this means smaller-scale institutions can effect creations in DXJ, it also means it will cost three times as much for larger institutions to get the same notional exposure through the creation window unless those creations are all done at once.

FORBES: Riding The Japanese Bull Without The Yen Drag