iShares Pacific ex Japan Equity Index Fund

The Asia Pacific Rim represents a handful of countries on the western coastline of the Pacific Ocean. This part of the world is made up of both emerging market countries, such as Malaysia and Thailand, and more advanced/developed economies such as Australia and South Korea. It’s an interesting market, where populations are growing and lifestyles are changings. Rising levels of household income are driving increased demand for goods and services across the region. As a result, there are potentially rewarding opportunities for investors.

Asia Pacific

The iShares Pacific ex Japan Equity Index Fund is a tracker fund (also known as a passive fund), designed to track the performance of the FTSE World Asia Pacific ex Japan Index, and at the end of 2021 the fund was invested in 643 companies in this region. The FTSE World Asia Pacific ex Japan Index is an index that represents this part of the world. Not only is it diversified across eight countries in the region, it also stretches across many different sectors of these economies, from technology and telecommunications companies to industrial businesses and health care companies.

Tracking the market

Because the iShares Pacific ex Japan Equity Index Fund is designed to track the market it invests in, the fund should deliver similar investment returns. It does this by simply buying shares in every single company in the region, as represented by the FTSE World Asia Pacific ex Japan Index.

One of the advantages of tracker funds is the lower costs, when compared to actively managed funds. Tracker funds are run using computer algorithms, rather than with costly research and managers, which means they are significantly cheaper than the equivalent actively managed funds. They offer an attractive cost-effective option to use as a key part of a diversified portfolio.

Tracker funds at Barclays

With thousands of different funds to choose from, it can seem like a big task to find the ones right for you. The Barclays Funds List is one way to help you narrow down the huge range of options available. We have selected 12 tracker funds which allow you to track the performance of different investment sectors at a low cost.

The tracker funds on our Funds List are selected solely on cost – those featured are simply the cheapest available tracker fund we offer in each sector where a relevant product is available. The funds included in this selection are reviewed every six months, in June and December.

If passive funds appeal to you, you may wish to look at the tracker funds in the Barclays Funds List. Find out more information on these funds. 

Correct at the time of publishing.

To diversify your investment, you may like to consider our own Barclays Ready-made Investments (RMI). The RMI are just one example of a range of diversified funds which allow you to select the level of risk you are most comfortable with. These Barclays multi-asset funds invest in passive funds across a range of asset classes and regions, offering a globally diversified solution for investors. Ready-made Investments are not the only funds that we offer and they won’t be appropriate for everyone.

Past performance of the fund and its manager are not a reliable indicator of their future performance.

We don’t offer personal investment advice so if you’re unsure you should seek that independently.

Funds are designed for the long term so you should only consider them if you can stay invested for at least five years.

These are our current opinions but the future, as ever, is uncertain and outcomes may differ.

Read the Assessment of Value report [PDF, 3.2MB] for funds run by Barclays.