IDLV vs PATN

IDLVBInvesco S&P International Developed Low Volatility ETF

PATNFPacer Nasdaq International Patent Leaders ETF

In short

IDLV Screens developed markets for calm instead of size: roughly 200 international large and mid caps chosen by an S&P low volatility index, run on the same rulebook since 2012.

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

IDLV The Fund seeks exposure to large- and mid-cap stocks from international developed markets through the S&P BMI International Developed Low Volatility Index. It invests at least 90% of total assets in securities comprising that Index.

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

• IDLV The low-vol screen is a rule, not a mood. The fund keeps at least 90% of assets in the S&P BMI International Developed Low Volatility Index it advertises.invesco.com
• Holdings line up with the stated mandate: about 200 developed-market large and mid caps, no drift into off-label names.
• Live since 2012, so this is a long-running version of the low-volatility idea abroad, not a freshly launched factor experiment. Distributions come quarterly.

• 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

• IDLV At 0.25% it runs above the cohort median of 0.18%, and well above plain cap-weighted developed peers like VEA and SPDW at 0.03%. The volatility screen is what the extra buys.
• Thinly traded for its category, so limit orders and mid-session trading matter more here than with the giants of developed-markets indexing.
• A volatility screen reshuffles the map: country and sector weights can sit far from a standard developed-markets index, and the fund can lag when riskier stocks lead.

• 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 IDLV profile⁠

Full PATN profile⁠