AAXJ vs IPAC

AAXJCiShares MSCI All Country Asia ex Japan ETF

IPACAiShares Core MSCI Pacific ETF

In short

AAXJ The regional Asia trade with Japan carved out: roughly 900 large- and mid-cap stocks from developed and emerging markets, in one ticker since 2008. You pay up for that precision.

IPAC The developed Pacific in one line item: roughly 1,400 large, mid and small caps for 0.09% a year, well under the 0.35% median for its international peer group. iShares has run it as a core building block since 2014.

Stated mandate

AAXJ The fund tracks an index of large- and mid-cap equities from developed and emerging Asian countries, excluding Japan, providing regional international equity exposure.

IPAC The fund seeks to track an index of large-, mid-, and small-cap equities from the Pacific region.

Why people hold it

• AAXJ One ticket, roughly 900 large- and mid-cap Asian stocks, spanning both developed and emerging markets under a single index rulebook.
• Running since 2008 and now a multi-billion-dollar fund that trades actively, so getting in and out is rarely the hard part.
• Japan sits outside the MSCI AC Asia ex Japan index by design, leaving investors free to size Japan exposure on their own terms.

• IPAC Charges 0.09% a year against a 0.35% median for its international cohort. Among its closest-graded peers, only VXUS (0.05%) costs less.
• Follows the MSCI Pacific Investable Market Index closely, among the tightest index-tracking in its peer group.ishares.com
• "Investable Market" means small caps ride along with the blue chips: roughly 1,400 holdings rather than a short list of household names.
• Sits in the top quartile of the broad international funds we grade, with no structural flags on the wrapper and a multi-billion-dollar asset base.

Worth knowing

• AAXJ At 0.72% a year, the fee runs well above the 0.28% typical of its peer group and far above broad international index funds like IXUS at 0.07%.
• Emerging Asian markets are baked into the mandate, so currency moves and local market swings ride along with the developed-market names.
• Cash comes back once or twice a year rather than monthly.

• IPAC One region, not the world. Broader options like VXUS hold developed and emerging markets across the globe in a single ticker.
• A Pacific-only mandate rides on a handful of economies and their currencies, a narrower base than a globally spread stock fund.
• Volume is moderate rather than heavy, so spreads can run wider than the largest international funds, and income arrives once or twice a year.

Full AAXJ profile⁠

Full IPAC profile⁠