AIPO vs DTCR

AIPOCDefiance AI & Power Infrastructure ETF

DTCRAGlobal X Data Center & Digital Infrastructure ETF

In short

AIPO AI runs on electricity, and AIPO owns both ends of the wire: the compute buildout and the US power infrastructure feeding it. Roughly 80 US-listed names, chosen by a revenue test rather than a vague theme label.

DTCR Launched in 2020, before the AI buildout hit headlines, DTCR buys the plumbing: data center REITs, cell towers, and the gear wiring them together. Roughly two dozen names, global, priced under the typical infrastructure theme fund.

Stated mandate

AIPO The fund seeks to track, before fees and expenses, the performance of the MarketVectorTM US Listed AI and Power Infrastructure Index. Under normal circumstances, at least 80% of assets are invested in securities of companies meeting the fund’s AI and power-infrastructure revenue test.

DTCR DTCR seeks to track, before fees and expenses, the price and yield performance of the Solactive Data Center REITs & Digital Infrastructure Index. Its index-based portfolio targets companies operating data centers, cellular towers, or digital-infrastructure hardware supporting communications networks.

Why people hold it

• AIPO Buys the picks and the power plant, not just the picks. At least 80% of assets must sit in companies passing the fund's AI and power-infrastructure revenue test.defianceetfs.com
• Rules-based, not vibes-based: it tracks the MarketVector US Listed AI and Power Infrastructure Index, so the basket follows published index rules rather than a manager's hunch.
• Roughly 80 stocks spread across chips, data centers and the utilities and equipment behind them, so no single name carries the whole theme.
• One of the easier funds in this AI-infrastructure group to get in and out of, and it stands in the upper half of that peer set on our review.

• DTCR Narrow by design: an index-based portfolio of companies operating data centers, cellular towers, or the digital-infrastructure hardware behind communications networks.globalxetfs.com
• Costs 0.50% a year, a shade below the median expense ratio in its infrastructure-theme peer group.
• A multi-billion-dollar fund that trades actively, so buying or selling a normal-sized position seldom means hunting for the other side.
• Live since 2020, with a global mandate rather than a US-only one, and it sits in the upper half of its infrastructure cohort.

Worth knowing

• AIPO 0.69% a year puts it at the pricier end of this niche, where several rivals (AIVC, DAT, XDAT) charge less for their own AI-infrastructure spin.
• Launched in 2025, so the record is short and there's no full market cycle to judge it against yet.
• One theme, one country. A US-listed AI and power basket moves with that story, not the broad market, and payouts come annually or semiannually.

• DTCR Concentrated: around 25 holdings, so a handful of tower and data center landlords set the tone for the whole fund.
• REITs sit at the core of the index, and REITs borrow heavily to build, so financing costs can matter as much as AI demand.
• Broad infrastructure funds like IFRA and IGF charge less and spread across utilities, transport and energy. DTCR trades that breadth for one theme.

Full AIPO profile⁠

Full DTCR profile⁠