IFRA vs PAVE

IFRAAiShares U.S. Infrastructure ETF

PAVEAGlobal X U.S. Infrastructure Development 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.

PAVE Most infrastructure funds own the toll roads and pipelines. PAVE owns the US companies that build them, tracking the Indxx U.S. Infrastructure Development Index since its 2017 launch.

Stated mandate

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

PAVE The fund seeks to track, before fees and expenses, the price and yield performance of the Indxx U.S. Infrastructure Development Index.

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.

• PAVE Charges 0.47% a year, undercutting the typical fee among infrastructure ETFs.
• A multi-billion-dollar fund that trades actively, which generally means tight spreads at everyday order sizes.
• About 100 US-listed names, so the exposure is domestic build-out rather than the global utility-and-pipeline basket you get in IGF or GII.
• Live since 2017 and one of the stronger implementations in its infrastructure peer group.

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.

• PAVE Builders, machinery and materials names move with the economic cycle, and this fund screens as riskier than the infrastructure category norm.
• US-only by mandate, so no overseas airports or toll roads; peers like IGF and GII cover that ground.
• Distributions land once or twice a year, so income is a side effect here, not the design.

Full IFRA profile⁠

Full PAVE profile⁠