GII vs SIMS

GIIAState Street SPDR S&P Global Infrastructure ETF

SIMSBState Street SPDR S&P Kensho Intelligent Structures 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.

SIMS Most infrastructure funds own the concrete and the toll booths. SIMS tracks an S&P Kensho index built around the smart version of that buildout, roughly 50 stocks at 0.45% a year.

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.

SIMS The fund seeks to track the S&P Kensho Intelligent Infrastructure Index before fees and expenses.

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.

• SIMS At 0.45% a year it undercuts the typical infrastructure ETF fee, and comes in below PAVE's 0.47%.
• Roughly 50 stocks from S&P's Kensho intelligent infrastructure index, not the usual utility and pipeline roster wearing a theme label.
• Live since 2017 under State Street, so a niche theme comes with a real track record and a large issuer's operational backing.
• Portfolio construction is the strong suit here, and the fund lands in the upper half of the infrastructure ETFs we grade.

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.

• SIMS Small asset base and thin trading, so spreads can widen. Limit orders matter more here than with the category's household names.
• One theme, roughly 50 names: this has been one of the choppier rides in the infrastructure group.
• Cheap for the cohort, not the cheapest in it: IFRA (0.30%) and IGF (0.37%) both charge less.

Full GII profile⁠

Full SIMS profile⁠