NFRA vs PAVE

NFRAANorthern Trust STOXX Global Broad Infrastructure ETF

PAVEAGlobal X U.S. Infrastructure Development 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.

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

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

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

• 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.

• 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

• 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.

• 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 NFRA profile⁠

Full PAVE profile⁠