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Should You Invest in the iShares U.S. Infrastructure ETF (IFRA)?

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Launched on 04/03/2018, the iShares U.S. Infrastructure ETF (IFRA - Free Report) is a passively managed exchange traded fund designed to provide a broad exposure to the Utilities - Infrastructure segment of the equity market.

While an excellent vehicle for long term investors, passively managed ETFs are a popular choice among institutional and retail investors due to their low costs, transparency, flexibility, and tax efficiency.

Investor-friendly, sector ETFs provide many options to gain low risk and diversified exposure to a broad group of companies in particular sectors. Utilities - Infrastructure is one of the 16 broad Zacks sectors within the Zacks Industry classification. It is currently ranked 8, placing it in top 50%.

Index Details

The fund is sponsored by Blackrock. It has amassed assets over $1.64 billion, making it one of the average sized ETFs attempting to match the performance of the Utilities - Infrastructure segment of the equity market. IFRA seeks to match the performance of the NYSE FACTSET U.S. INFRASTRUCTURE INDEX before fees and expenses.

The NYSE FactSet U.S. Infrastructure Index comprises of equities of U.S. companies that have infrastructure exposure and that could benefit from a potential increase in domestic infrastructure activities.

Costs

Investors should also pay attention to an ETF's expense ratio. Lower cost products will produce better results than those with a higher cost, assuming all other metrics remain the same.

Annual operating expenses for this ETF are 0.30%, making it one of the cheaper products in the space.

It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 2.11%.

Sector Exposure and Top Holdings

ETFs offer a diversified exposure and thus minimize single stock risk but it is still important to delve into a fund's holdings before investing. Most ETFs are very transparent products and many disclose their holdings on a daily basis.

This ETF has heaviest allocation in the Utilities sector--about 45.90% of the portfolio. Industrials and Materials round out the top three.

Looking at individual holdings, Allegheny Technologies Inc (ATI - Free Report) accounts for about 1.01% of total assets, followed by Century Aluminum (CENX - Free Report) and Enlink Midstream Common Units (ENLC - Free Report) .

The top 10 holdings account for about 9.02% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

The ETF has lost about -13.21% so far this year and is down about -2.83% in the last one year (as of 06/21/2022). In that past 52-week period, it has traded between $32.87 and $39.92.

The ETF has a beta of 1.01 and standard deviation of 27.45% for the trailing three-year period. With about 155 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Alternatives

IShares U.S. Infrastructure ETF carries a Zacks ETF Rank of 3 (Hold), which is based on expected asset class return, expense ratio, and momentum, among other factors. Thus, IFRA is a sufficient option for those seeking exposure to the Utilities/Infrastructure ETFs area of the market. Investors might also want to consider some other ETF options in the space.

IShares Global Infrastructure ETF (IGF - Free Report) tracks S&P Global Infrastructure Index and the Global X U.S. Infrastructure Development ETF (PAVE - Free Report) tracks INDXX U.S. Infrastructure Development Index. IShares Global Infrastructure ETF has $3.26 billion in assets, Global X U.S. Infrastructure Development ETF has $3.74 billion. IGF has an expense ratio of 0.43% and PAVE charges 0.47%.

Bottom Line

To learn more about this product and other ETFs, screen for products that match your investment objectives and read articles on latest developments in the ETF investing universe, please visit Zacks ETF Center.

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