IFRA vs NUIF

IFRAAiShares U.S. Infrastructure ETF

NUIFBNuveen US Infrastructure ETF

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.

NUIF Infrastructure without an index: Nuveen's team hand-picks roughly 40 US owners and operators of the vital stuff (grids, pipelines, water), chasing growth plus income at 0.55% a year.

Stated mandate

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

NUIF Seeks long-term growth of capital and income. Under normal conditions, it invests at least 80% in equity securities of infrastructure-related companies economically tied to the U.S., with limited non-U.S. exposure.

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.

• NUIF At least 80% sits in US-tied infrastructure equities: companies that own or operate vital structures, facilities and services. Toll-booth assets, not a construction-cycle bet.nuveen.com
• No declared index to copy. Nuveen's investment team builds the book itself, leaning toward infrastructure names it considers overlooked and attractively valued.nuveen.com
• 0.55% a year for active management undercuts the typical fund in the infrastructure group, where plenty of rules-based rivals charge more.
• Income is written into the mandate, not bolted on: the stated goal is long-term growth of capital and income from businesses with typically stable cash flows.nuveen.com

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.

• NUIF Launched in 2026 and still small, it trades thinly, so spreads can be wide and limit orders matter more than with the group's giants.
• Non-diversified and concentrated in about 40 names, so a single stumble lands harder than it would in a broad infrastructure index fund.usnews.com
• The active fee is real: index alternatives in the same cohort, IFRA at 0.30% and PAVE at 0.47%, cost less for infrastructure exposure.

Full IFRA profile⁠

Full NUIF profile⁠