AIA vs IPAC

AIACiShares Asia 50 ETF

IPACAiShares Core MSCI Pacific ETF

In short

AIA A 50-stock shortlist of Asia's largest companies, running since 2007. Where broad international funds spread across thousands of names, this one concentrates on the region's blue-chip giants in a single ticker.

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

AIA The fund seeks to track the investment results of an index made up of 50 of the largest Asian equities.

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

Why people hold it

• AIA Concentration by design: about 50 of Asia's biggest listed companies, so the region's giants carry real weight instead of being diluted by thousands of smaller names.
• Trading since 2007, so it has a long record through the financial crisis and multiple Asian market cycles, not a recent launch chasing a theme.
• The mandate is plain to read: track the S&P Asia 50 Capped Index, whose capped construction limits how heavy any one holding can become.
• A multi-billion-dollar iShares fund that sees steady daily trading, which generally makes building or exiting a position uncomplicated.

• 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

• AIA At 0.50% a year it runs well above the 0.28% median in its international-blend peer group, and far above broad options like VEU (0.04%) or IXUS (0.07%).
• Fifty stocks in one region is a slice, not a global core. Single-country, currency and single-company swings land with more force here.
• Income arrives on an annual or semiannual schedule, so it is not built around a steady monthly payout.

• 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 AIA profile⁠

Full IPAC profile⁠