AIPO vs TCAI

AIPOCDefiance AI & Power Infrastructure ETF

TCAIBTortoise AI 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.

TCAI A stock picker's run at the AI buildout. TCAI is actively managed with no index to follow, aiming at the companies that supply AI infrastructure, and it prices right at the middle of its small niche.

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.

TCAI The Fund invests with an emphasis on companies involved in AI infrastructure. It is actively managed and does not seek to track an index.

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.

• TCAI No index, no rulebook. The managers pick the AI infrastructure names themselves, so the portfolio can shift as the buildout does rather than wait for a quarterly reconstitution.
• At 0.65% a year it lands on the median fee for its AI infrastructure cohort, and under the 0.69% charged by Defiance's AIPO, despite being run actively.
• In a crowded new corner (seven funds chasing AI infrastructure), this one grades out in the upper half on our review.
• Liquidity is a bright spot: it changes hands often enough that getting in and out is one of the smoother parts of owning it, unusual for a fund this new.

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.

• TCAI Launched in August 2025, so the track record is thin. There is not yet enough history to judge how it behaves through a full market cycle.
• Active costs more here. Index-run peers in the same niche, Franklin's XDAT at 0.50% and ProShares' DAT at 0.58%, undercut it.
• Distributions come once or twice a year, and the fund is still mid-sized rather than a giant. This is a growth-theme holding, not an income line item.

Full AIPO profile⁠

Full TCAI profile⁠