The takeaway
WisdomTree Japan Opportunities Fund shows a slight seasonal lean over 10 years of data — strongest in September (+3.0%) and softest in January (+0.9%).
Right now
In July, the fund has risen 80% of years, averaging +1.1%, roughly 1.0 pts behind the S&P 500.
The full picture
WisdomTree Japan Opportunities Fund's most dependable month has been September, higher in 9 of 10 years; January has been its least reliable, up just 50% of the time.
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Month by month
The fund's clearest edge over the S&P 500 lands in September (+3.1 pts); it has trailed the market most in July (−1.0 pts).
“vs S&P” is WisdomTree Japan Opportunities Fund’s average for a month minus the S&P 500’s average for that same month — isolating WisdomTree Japan Opportunities Fund’s own seasonal edge from broad market drift.
Reality check
Over the last 5 years, September has closed higher 80% of the time versus 90% across the last 10 years — the pattern is holding.
Figures are the typical (median) September return and how often it rose — the last 5 years versus the last 10(the heatmap’s default window). This verdict stays anchored to that 10-year window even if you zoom the chart, so it never disagrees with the badges above.
In plain English
Dependability is the through-line here. September stands out, higher in 9 of 10 Septembers, but it heads a clutch of months that pull the year reliably upward.
Its average (+3.0%) and median (+2.3%) land within a hair of each other — the tell of steady, year-after-year gains rather than one outlier doing the work. It is also the calendar's calmest month, its returns swinging least from year to year (a 2.6% spread), and even its worst September in 10 years lost only 1.1% — the gentlest downside anywhere on its calendar. Crucially, the gain is the fund's own rather than a rising tide's: September has cleared the S&P 500 by +3.1 points above the index. It bucks the broad tape, besides: September lifts just 39% of stocks across the market.
The strength clusters rather than stands alone — June–December forms a firm stretch that carries much of the year. The weaker half of the year is plainer: January is the year's low point, though even there the fund has stayed positive on average (+0.9%), a sign every month leans up, and the edge isn't year-round — the fund has trailed the S&P 500 in July, February, and March. Its roughest month on record was a −13.3% December in 2018 — a reminder of how hard even a seasonal name can fall.
Reassuringly, the tendency has held its shape: the recent five years still track the years behind them.
The takeaway is less about when to buy than what to expect: September aside, the fund's months offer little reliable tilt.
Short answers on the fund's best month (September), its worst (January), and whether it really trades seasonally.
Only mildly. The fund's months are fairly even — September is the firmest (+3.0%) and January the softest (+0.9%), a narrow spread that points to weak seasonality rather than a strong calendar effect.
September has been the strongest, averaging +3.0% and closing higher in 9 of 10 years since 2016.
It's the weakest month, but it has still averaged a small gain (+0.9%) — quiet rather than genuinely bad.
Explore
These names have the strongest July track records on record — a starting point for comparison.
Before you trade