NFRA vs NFRX

NFRAANorthern Trust STOXX Global Broad Infrastructure ETF

NFRXDHarrison Street Infrastructure Active ETF

In short

NFRA Most global infrastructure funds stop at utilities and toll roads. NFRA's index goes wider, adding cell towers, data centers, hospitals, prisons and postal routes to the pipelines and railroads, across developed and emerging markets.

NFRX Harrison Street's first ETF brings its private real-assets playbook to a ticker: an active, global book of utilities, midstream, digital and transport infrastructure. 0.80% net of a waiver through April 30, 2027.

Stated mandate

NFRA The fund seeks to match, before fees and expenses, the performance of the STOXX Global Broad Infrastructure Index.

NFRX The fund seeks long-term capital appreciation and income.

Why people hold it

• NFRA Five supersectors in one wrapper: communications, energy, utilities, transportation and government outsourcing (hospitals, postal, correctional), across roughly 220 holdings.flexshares.com
• Charges 0.47% net (0.48% gross), net of a waiver through March 1, 2027, below the infrastructure category median.
• The index does real work: half of revenue must come from infrastructure, names must clear a $1 million daily-volume screen, and sector caps limit crowding. Rebalanced quarterly.flexshares.com
• Listed in 2013 and now a multi-billion-dollar fund that pays quarterly, it sits among the stronger builds in its peer group.

• NFRX Actively managed and non-diversified, so the managers can run a concentrated book of infrastructure names rather than track an index.sec.gov
• The hunting ground is spelled out: utilities, midstream energy, digital and transportation infrastructure, the essential-service corners of the market.colliers.com
• Income sits in the mandate alongside long-term capital appreciation, and the fund pays quarterly.
• The debut listed fund from a real-assets house whose day job is private infrastructure, run by its private wealth arm.colliers.com

Worth knowing

• NFRA Cheaper options sit on the same shelf: IFRA at 0.30%, IGF at 0.37%, GII at 0.40%. Each tracks a different index with a different definition of infrastructure.
• Broad cuts both ways: telecoms, railroads and postal operators share the portfolio with utilities, so this is not a pure regulated-utility sleeve.flexshares.comflexshares.com 2
• Volume is moderate rather than heavy for the category, which can mean wider spreads on larger orders.

• NFRX Costs 0.80% net of a waiver through April 30, 2027 (0.85% gross), above the category median; index peers IFRA (0.30%) and IGF (0.37%) charge less.
• Launched January 2026 and thinly traded, so limit orders matter and the track record is still short.
• Non-diversified means a single issuer stumble hits harder than in a broad index fund; concentration risk is named in its own filings.sec.gov

Full NFRA profile⁠

Full NFRX profile⁠