EPP vs IPAC

EPPCiShares MSCI Pacific ex Japan ETF

IPACAiShares Core MSCI Pacific ETF

In short

EPP EPP is the Pacific minus Japan: one ticket for the region's developed markets, with Japan deliberately left out so you can size that exposure yourself. It has tracked an MSCI index of roughly 90 stocks since 2001.

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

EPP The fund seeks to track an index of developed-market equities in the Pacific region, excluding Japan, providing diversified regional exposure.

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

Why people hold it

• EPP Japan is carved out by mandate, not by accident, so Japanese stocks are a decision you make separately instead of a weight you inherit.ishares.com
• Launched in 2001 under iShares, one of the longest-running US-listed ways to hold developed Pacific ex Japan in a single line item.
• Plain index wrapper: one declared benchmark (MSCI Pacific ex Japan Index, Net), roughly 90 holdings, no stock picking.
• A billion-dollar-plus, moderately traded fund rather than a thin niche listing, and it sits in the upper half of its index-wrapper peer group.

• 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

• EPP At 0.47%, regional exposure costs more than broad index staples like SCHK (0.03%) or VT (0.06%). You pay for the geographic slice.
• Roughly 90 stocks across a handful of Pacific markets means country, sector, and currency swings land harder than in a global fund.
• Distributions run annual or semiannual rather than quarterly, so income arrives in lumps.

• 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 EPP profile⁠

Full IPAC profile⁠