EFAV vs PATN

EFAVAiShares MSCI EAFE Min Vol Factor ETF

PATNFPacer Nasdaq International Patent Leaders ETF

In short

EFAV The 2011 original for overseas min vol: roughly 300 developed-market stocks outside the US and Canada, picked for lower-volatility traits, at 0.20% a year. One of the strongest builds in its international factor group.

PATN Most international funds sort companies by size, value or momentum. PATN sorts by patents, tracking a Nasdaq index that ranks large and mid cap non-US firms on what their patent portfolios are worth and holds the top 100.

Stated mandate

EFAV The fund seeks to track an index of developed-market equities outside the United States and Canada that have lower-volatility characteristics.

PATN The fund seeks international growth by tracking the 100 highest-ranked companies by patent valuation from a universe of large- and mid-cap non-U.S. companies.

Why people hold it

• EFAV Charges 0.20% a year, less than half the typical fee among international factor funds.
• Running since 2011 and now a multi-billion-dollar fund that trades actively, one of the longer records in the international factor aisle.
• Spreads across about 300 names and follows the MSCI EAFE Minimum Volatility Index, so the low-vol call is rules-based rather than a manager's hand-picked list.ishares.com
• Stands among the strongest implementations in its 18-fund international factor peer group.

• PATN The selection rule is genuinely unusual: a Nasdaq index scores non-US large and mid caps on patent valuation and keeps the top 100, so the portfolio is built around intellectual property rather than price or market cap.paceretfs.com
• Rules-based and spread wide: roughly 100 developed-market names outside the US, chosen and refreshed by index rule instead of a manager's judgment call.
• An R&D tilt without the usual US tech concentration: the whole universe is non-US, so it reaches the innovators that most American-listed innovation funds skip. Distributions are paid quarterly.

Worth knowing

• EFAV The min-vol screen reshapes the lineup, so sector and country weights can sit well away from a plain EAFE index fund and results diverge from it.
• QLVD runs a developed ex-US low-volatility mandate for 0.15%, so cheaper shelf-mates exist in the same aisle.
• Coverage stops at developed markets outside the US and Canada, leaving emerging markets and Canadian stocks to other holdings.ishares.com

• PATN You pay up for the idea. The 0.65% expense ratio sits meaningfully above what a typical international factor fund charges, and that gap compounds against you every year you hold it.
• It launched in 2024, so there is not yet a long record showing how a patent-value screen behaves through a full market cycle or a growth-stock drawdown.
• Cheaper, longer-established international factor funds (EFAV at 0.20%, IDMO at 0.25%) currently sit well ahead of it in our peer group review.

Full EFAV profile⁠

Full PATN profile⁠