Activest Bets Big on Asia With $5.8 Million AAXJ Purchase

What happened

According to an SEC filing published April 15, 2026, Activest Wealth Management increased its holding in the iShares MSCI All Country Asia ex Japan ETF (NASDAQ:AAXJ) by 57,758 shares. The estimated value of this purchase was approximately $5.8 million, calculated using the quarter’s average closing price.

What else to know

• This purchase brought the AAXJ position to 1.35% of Activest's 13F assets under management.
• Top holdings after the filing:
  • NYSEMKT: SPY: $111.5 million (19.6% of AUM)
  • NASDAQ: QQQ: $63.6 million (11.2% of AUM)
  • NYSEMKT: RSP: $48.1 million (8.4% of AUM)
  • NASDAQ: AAPL: $29.6 million (5.2% of AUM)
  • NASDAQ: NVDA: $20.9 million (3.7% of AUM)
• As of April 15, 2026, shares were trading at $105.14, up roughly 51% over the past year, beating the S&P 500 by about 22 percentage points.
• The AAXJ position remains outside Activest’s top five holdings, which are mainly large ETFs and technology stocks.

ETF overview

ETF snapshot

The iShares MSCI All Country Asia ex Japan ETF offers investors a single-ticket way to access a wide swath of Asian equity markets -- from China and India to South Korea, Taiwan, and Hong Kong -- while deliberately skipping Japan, which has its own dedicated index products. The fund tracks the MSCI All Country Asia ex Japan Index using a passive, rules-based strategy, meaning it doesn't try to pick winners but instead holds a broad representative slice of the region's market capitalization.

What this transaction means for investors

Activest clearly sees something it likes in AAXJ. The fund nearly quadrupled its position in a single quarter -- going from 22,065 shares at the end of 2025 to 79,823 shares by March 31, 2026. That kind of deliberate accumulation reflects an incremental strategic bet on Asian equities outside Japan.

Asian markets have been a complicated story for U.S. investors in recent years -- a mixture of China's growth challenges, geopolitical tensions around Taiwan, and diverging economic paths across the region. The fact that a U.S. wealth management firm is willing to deploy nearly $5.8 million into this basket in a single quarter suggests its managers believe the risk/reward is tilted in their favor right now. The ETF's strong 51% one-year return may have played some role in that conviction, though smart investors know that past performance doesn't guarantee future results.

As part of a global diversification strategy, an Asia-focused fund can make sense for some investors. Asia funds offer access to rapidly growing economies -- such as China, India, and Taiwan -- that can complement traditional U.S. or European holdings. While potentially increasing portfolio volatility and risk, this region is a crucial component of global economic growth and can help reduce a portfolio’s overdependence on U.S. mega-cap stocks. That said, there are plenty of all-in-one global index funds -- including the Vanguard Total World Stock ETF (NYSEMKT:VT) or iShares MSCI ACWI ETF (NASDAQ:ACWI) -- for investors who want to keep things simpler.

For individual investors watching institutional moves, this kind of 13F disclosure is one of the best windows we have into how professional money managers are positioning their portfolios -- and Activest's Asia bet is one of the more decisive moves in its latest filing.

Andy Gould has positions in Apple and Nvidia and has the following options: long January 2027 $125 calls on Nvidia and short January 2027 $125 puts on Nvidia. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Apple and Nvidia and is short shares of Apple. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.