INVN vs TRFM

INVNBAlger Russell Innovation ETF

TRFMAAAM Transformers ETF

In short

INVN Most innovation funds buy the story. INVN buys the R&D line: it ranks Russell 1000 companies by research spending against enterprise value, screens for profitability first, then equal-weights the top 50 and re-sorts every quarter.

TRFM Most disruption funds buy the story. TRFM screens for companies actually writing R&D checks, then spreads the theme across a couple hundred US-listed names instead of a concentrated bet on thirty.

Stated mandate

INVN The fund seeks to track, before fees and expenses, the performance of the Alger Russell Innovation Index.

TRFM The Fund passively tracks the total return of the Pence Transformers Index before fees and expenses. The index targets U.S.-listed equity securities of companies positioned to benefit from significant changes in consumer behavior and technological innovation.

Why people hold it

• INVN Innovation defined by an accounting line rather than a narrative: the index picks the 50 Russell 1000 names with the highest research spending relative to enterprise value, plus other factors.prnewswire.com
• A profitability screen runs before the innovation ranking, so the basket leans toward companies funding their R&D out of a real business.
• Equal weighting at each quarterly review gives the 50th name roughly the same say as the first, so no mega-cap sits on the portfolio.prnewswire.com
• At 0.55%, the fee sits below the typical fund in its disruptive-innovation peer group.

• TRFM Candidates are screened on research-and-development spending, so names earn a slot with budget receipts, not just a narrative.nasdaq.com
• 0.49% a year, below the typical fee in its disruptive-innovation cohort, and it follows a published index rather than a manager's hunches.
• Modified equal weighting across a couple hundred holdings keeps any single mega-cap from quietly becoming the whole theme.stockanalysis.com
• Sits among the strongest implementations in its disruptive-innovation peer group on our review.

Worth knowing

• INVN That 0.55% is a capped rate. Gross fund expenses run higher and the waiver is contractual with an end date, so the current prospectus is the place to check it.sec.gov
• Cheaper ways to own the theme exist: KOMP charges 0.20% and XT 0.46%.
• It launched in January 2025, so the track record is short, and a 50-stock book rebuilt every quarter concentrates risk and shuffles holdings more than a broad index fund.prnewswire.com

• TRFM Not the cheapest door into the theme. Broader innovation rivals such as KOMP carry a lower expense ratio.
• Trades thinly next to the category's giants, so the bid-ask spread can matter more to your cost than the fee does.
• Launched in 2022, so the track record is short, and the index stays US-listed (ADRs count) rather than buying foreign shares directly.stockanalysis.com

Full INVN profile⁠

Full TRFM profile⁠