GII vs IPAV

GIIAState Street SPDR S&P Global Infrastructure ETF

IPAVDGlobal X Infrastructure Development ex-U.S. ETF

In short

GII Toll roads, airports, pipelines and power grids in one ticker. GII has tracked the S&P Global Infrastructure Index since 2007, an early entrant in the category, and charges less than the typical infrastructure fund.

IPAV Most of the world's building happens outside the United States. IPAV takes the infrastructure-development idea (contractors, materials, equipment, any sector) and points it entirely overseas, across developed and emerging markets.

Stated mandate

GII The fund seeks to track the total return of the S&P Global Infrastructure Index. That index provides exposure to large publicly listed infrastructure companies across transportation, utilities, and energy infrastructure.

IPAV IPAV seeks to track, before fees and expenses, the price and yield performance of the Global X Infrastructure Development ex-U.S. Index.

Why people hold it

• GII Tracks an index of 75 of the largest listed infrastructure companies, screened for float and liquidity, spread across transportation, utilities and energy infrastructure in developed and emerging markets.ssga.com
• 0.40% a year against a 0.55% median for infrastructure ETFs. The cheap end of a category that often is not cheap.
• Live since 2007, so the record covers the financial crisis, a decade of low rates and the 2022 rate shock. It rates among the strongest implementations in its infrastructure peer group.

• IPAV Buys the build-out chain, not the finished toll road: about 100 non-U.S. companies tied to infrastructure activity, selected regardless of sector or industry label.globalxetfs.com
• The overseas half of a pair. Global X runs the same development-focused approach for U.S. builders in PAVE, so this one covers developed and emerging markets outside the States.globalxetfs.com
• Rules-based, not a stock-picker's hunch: it tracks the Global X Infrastructure Development ex-U.S. Index before fees and expenses.

Worth knowing

• GII IGF follows the same index for 0.37%, three basis points less. GII's own trading is moderate rather than heavy, so spreads count alongside the fee gap.
• Roughly 70 stocks across three sectors and several currencies. A focused, globally scattered book that can behave quite differently from a broad world equity fund.ssga.com
• Distributions arrive on an annual or semiannual schedule, so cash lands in lumps rather than monthly.

• IPAV 0.55% is mid-pack for thematic infrastructure, but above broad global options such as IGF at 0.37% and its U.S. sibling PAVE at 0.47%.
• Launched in 2024 and still a small, lightly traded fund, so spreads tend to run wider than at the category's giants and the track record is short.
• Builders and materials names skew cyclical rather than utility-like, and cash comes back once or twice a year, not monthly.globalxetfs.com

Full GII profile⁠

Full IPAV profile⁠