IFRA vs SIMS

IFRAAiShares U.S. Infrastructure ETF

SIMSBState Street SPDR S&P Kensho Intelligent Structures 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.

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

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

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

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.

• 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

• 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.

• 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 IFRA profile⁠

Full SIMS profile⁠