ALAI vs ARTY

ALAIBAlger AI Enablers & Adopters ETF

ARTYAiShares Future AI & Tech ETF

In short

ALAI Most AI funds hand the theme to an index. Alger hands it to analysts: active managers sort names into AI Enablers (the builders) and AI Adopters (the users), at 0.58% net of a waiver through December 31, 2027.

ARTY Launched in 2018 as a robotics fund, ARTY switched benchmarks in 2024 and came back as a focused global AI portfolio: about 50 companies across chips, data centers, software and services, at a below-median theme fee.

Stated mandate

ALAI The Fund’s stated aim is long-term growth in capital.

ARTY The fund seeks to track a global index of companies contributing to artificial-intelligence technologies across software, infrastructure, and services.

Why people hold it

• ALAI Two sides of the trade. The prospectus splits AI into Enablers (the hardware, software and services behind it) and Adopters (companies folding AI into their operations).sec.gov
• A judgment call, not a keyword screen: the manager must see AI playing a material role in driving a stock's performance over the next twelve to thirty-six months.sec.gov
• At least 80% of net assets go to equities of any market cap the manager believes benefit from AI, so small and mid caps can sit beside the megacap names.sec.gov
• 0.58% net of a waiver through December 31, 2027 (0.67% gross) lands below the AI category median, unusual for active stock picking. A multi-billion-dollar book behind it.

• ARTY 0.47% a year against a 0.68% median for AI-theme funds. The thematic markup is smaller here than on most of the shelf, though XAIX and QTUM undercut it.
• Global by design. The index pulls from US and non-US companies contributing to AI across generative AI, data and infrastructure, software and services.ishares.com
• A multi-billion-dollar, actively traded iShares fund, so getting in and out doesn't hinge on thin volume.
• Stacks up as one of the stronger builds in a crowded AI cohort on cost, structure and staying power.

Worth knowing

• ALAI Index rivals cost less: ARTY at 0.47%, XAIX at 0.35%, neither on a waiver. The fee here buys research, and reverts toward 0.67% if the waiver lapses after 2027.
• Concentrated and busy. About 70 stocks in one theme, and the prospectus notes turnover costs sit outside the expense ratio and can raise taxes in a taxable account.sec.gov
• Launched in April 2024, so the record is short, and trading is moderate rather than among the category's heaviest, which can matter on large or fast orders.

• ARTY The record before August 2024 belongs to a different strategy: as IRBO it tracked a robotics and AI index, then moved to the Morningstar Global AI Select Index.ishares.com
• About 50 names in one theme. The AI trade sets the tone here, and that concentration works in both directions.
• Distributions land once or twice a year and are incidental. This is a growth-theme equity fund, not an income holding.

Full ALAI profile⁠

Full ARTY profile⁠