FLAX vs IPAC

FLAXBFranklin FTSE Asia ex Japan ETF

IPACAiShares Core MSCI Pacific ETF

In short

FLAX One line item for Asia's markets with Japan left out: roughly 1,600 stocks at 0.19% a year, less than half the median fee among index-tracking peers. Broad, cheap, and thin to trade.

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

FLAX The Fund seeks investment results that closely correspond, before fees and expenses, to the performance of the FTSE Asia ex Japan RIC Capped Index.

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

Why people hold it

• FLAX 0.19% a year against a 0.45% median for index-tracking peers. Less than half the going rate for the same passive job.
• About 1,600 holdings across Asia ex Japan. The index is a RIC-capped version, which limits how large any single position can grow.
• Plain passive mandate since 2018: match the FTSE Asia ex Japan RIC Capped Index before fees and expenses. No manager discretion, no style drift.

• 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

• FLAX Thinly traded, so on any single trip in or out the bid-ask spread can cost more than the annual fee. Limit orders are the usual tool.
• Cash comes annually or semiannually, not monthly. Income arrives in lumps.
• One region, Japan excluded. This is a regional equity slice that tracks Asian markets, not a global core holding.

• 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 FLAX profile⁠

Full IPAC profile⁠