IFRA vs NGIF

IFRAAiShares U.S. Infrastructure ETF

NGIFDNuveen Global Infrastructure Fund: ETF Class Shares

In short

IFRA Most infrastructure funds pick a side: the companies that build the stuff, or the ones that own it. IFRA holds both, stays entirely American, and charges well under the category's typical fee.

NGIF Not a new strategy so much as a new door into an old one: Nuveen's actively managed global infrastructure portfolio, now sold as exchange-traded shares. Roughly 70 companies that own, build, finance or run physical assets.

Stated mandate

IFRA The fund seeks to track an index of U.S. companies with infrastructure exposure, balancing infrastructure enablers and infrastructure asset owners.

NGIF The fund primarily invests in equity securities of infrastructure-related companies from the United States and other countries.

Why people hold it

• IFRA 0.30% a year, roughly half the typical fee in the infrastructure category and cheaper than bigger-name rivals IGF (0.37%), GII (0.40%) and PAVE (0.47%).
• Tracks the NYSE FactSet U.S. Infrastructure Index, which balances the enablers (builders and suppliers) against the asset owners, rather than betting on the construction cycle alone.
• Roughly 160 holdings spread the theme wide, and the fund pays out quarterly.
• Running since 2018 with over a billion in assets, it sits among the strongest implementations in its infrastructure peer group.

• NGIF The ETF class sits on Nuveen's existing global infrastructure fund, so it is the same active portfolio in a wrapper you can trade on an exchange all day.nuveen.com
• The mandate is concrete: at least 80% in equities of US and non-US companies that own, build, finance, operate or supply infrastructure assets.sec.gov
• Active and global by design, with about 70 holdings rather than several hundred, so the team's picks actually move the needle.

Worth knowing

• IFRA US-only by design. The overseas toll roads, airports and utilities that global peers like IGF and GII hold are simply not here.
• A narrow slice of the market, so it can move quite differently from a broad US index in either direction.
• Volume is moderate rather than heavy. Limit orders are the sane default, especially around the open and close.

• NGIF Fees run 0.88% a year, above the 0.59% typical for infrastructure ETFs and roughly triple index rivals like IFRA (0.30%) and IGF (0.37%).
• The ticker launched in 2026 and is thinly traded, so limit orders and a glance at the spread matter more here than with the category's heavyweights.
• Being active, results can drift from the S&P Global Infrastructure Index it is measured against in either direction; on cost and trading it sits in the back of its peer group.nuveen.com

Full IFRA profile⁠

Full NGIF profile⁠