INVN vs XT

INVNBAlger Russell Innovation ETF

XTAiShares Future Exponential Technologies 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.

XT Innovation, spread thin on purpose. XT holds roughly 200 global companies scored by Morningstar analysts for exposure to a handful of exponential tech themes, so no single moonshot carries the fund.

Stated mandate

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

XT XT seeks to track an index of stocks from developed and emerging markets whose companies create or use exponential technologies. The strategy targets technologies with potential economic benefits, including the ability to displace older technologies or create new markets.

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.

• XT Cheap for the theme at 0.46% a year, below the typical fee in its disruptive-innovation cohort and under peers like TRFM and FDTX.
• Human fingerprint on the stock list: Morningstar equity analysts score companies on theme exposure instead of sorting by keywords or revenue tags.sec.govcontentstack.io
• Global by construction (developed and emerging markets) and not fenced into the tech sector, so a drugmaker or an industrial can qualify on theme exposure.sec.gov
• Launched in 2015 and now a multi-billion-dollar iShares fund, it stands among the stronger builds in its innovation peer group.ishares.com

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

• XT The index has been reworked since launch (weighting scheme, theme list), and themes get an annual review, so today's tilt is not fixed forever.morningstar.comsec.gov
• Moderately traded rather than a household name, which can mean wider spreads than the biggest tech ETFs.
• About 200 positions dilutes any single breakout winner, and distributions land only once or twice a year.

Full INVN profile⁠

Full XT profile⁠