IPAC vs VPL

IPACAiShares Core MSCI Pacific ETF

VPLAVanguard FTSE Pacific ETF

In short

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.

VPL Vanguard's scalpel for the developed Pacific: Japan, Australia, South Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore and New Zealand, down to small caps, for 0.07% a year. Asia-Pacific without Europe bolted on, running since 2005.

Stated mandate

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

VPL VPL seeks to track the FTSE Developed Asia Pacific All Cap Index, targeting Pacific-region common stocks through passive full replication.

Why people hold it

• 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.

• VPL Costs 0.07% a year, roughly a quarter of the 0.28% median in its international-blend group and well under broad rivals like ACWX at 0.32%.vanguard.com
• Full replication, all-cap: roughly 2,400 stocks held in index weight, small caps included, rather than a large-cap sample of the region.vanguard.com
• Trading since 2005 and now a multi-billion-dollar fund that has tracked its benchmark tightly, one of the stronger implementations in its peer group.
• FTSE's developed Asia Pacific map includes South Korea, so Korean names sit alongside Japanese and Australian ones in the same index.bogleheads.org

Worth knowing

• 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.

• VPL Six developed markets, full stop. No Europe and no emerging Asia, so China, Taiwan and India sit outside the mandate.bogleheads.org
• Japan is the region's largest market and the fund's heaviest weight, and currency is unhedged, so Japanese equities and yen moves shape a lot of the ride.vanguard.com
• One region means bumpier ground than a global fund; it doesn't cover developed ex-US or all-world markets the way VEU or IXUS do.

Full IPAC profile⁠

Full VPL profile⁠