The IFRA ETF gives ASX investors diversified exposure to the world’s essential infrastructure operators, electric utilities, toll roads, pipelines, airports and rail networks across developed markets. It can be considered the boring backbone of the AI buildout, with every data centre needing a power grid, and IFRA owns the companies that run them. However, the returns over the last year haven’t been particularly boring, with the ETF up more than +16%.
The ETF holds a large diversified ~150 stocks with more than 70% exposure to the US and Canada, for just 0.2% pa. It’s arguably less sexy than the pure AI plays, but increasingly relevant, data centres require enormous amounts of electricity, cooling, and physical construction. The more AI adoption accelerates, the more demand rises for the heavy industries that support it. For good measure, the ETF is also forecast to yield almost 3% over the coming 12-months.
- We like this ETF, especially for the future chapters in the AI build out – MM owns the IFRA ETF in the Core ETF Portfolio.