Designed to provide broad exposure to the Utilities - Infrastructure segment of the equity market, the Global X U.S. Infrastructure Development ETF (PAVE) is a passively managed exchange traded fund launched on 03/06/2017.
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.
Sector ETFs are also funds of convenience, offering many ways 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 2, placing it in top 13%.
Index Details
The fund is sponsored by Global X Management. It has amassed assets over $8.36 billion, making it one of the largest ETFs attempting to match the performance of the Utilities - Infrastructure segment of the equity market. PAVE seeks to match the performance of the INDXX U.S. Infrastructure Development Index before fees and expenses.
The INDXX U.S. Infrastructure Development Index measure the performance of U.S. listed companies that provide exposure to domestic infrastructure development, including companies involved in construction and engineering; production of infrastructure raw materials, composites and products; industrial transportation; and producers/distributors of heavy construction equipment.
Costs
Since cheaper funds tend to produce better results than more expensive funds, assuming all other factors remain equal, it is important for investors to pay attention to an ETF's expense ratio.
Annual operating expenses for this ETF are 0.47%, making it on par with most peer products in the space.
It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 0.52%.
Sector Exposure and Top Holdings
Even though ETFs offer diversified exposure that minimizes single stock risk, investors should also look at the actual holdings inside the fund. Luckily, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.
This ETF has heaviest allocation in the Industrials sector--about 68.50% of the portfolio. Materials and Financials round out the top three.
Looking at individual holdings, Fastenal Co (FAST) accounts for about 3.58% of total assets, followed by Howmet Aerospace Inc (HWM) and Deere & Co (DE).
The top 10 holdings account for about 32.21% of total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
The ETF has gained about 4.92% so far this year and is up about 9.42% in the last one year (as of 05/19/2025). In that past 52-week period, it has traded between $33.78 and $45.95.
The ETF has a beta of 1.24 and standard deviation of 22.42% for the trailing three-year period. With about 102 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.
Alternatives
Global X U.S. Infrastructure Development ETF holds a Zacks ETF Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on expected asset class return, expense ratio, and momentum, among other factors. Because of this, PAVE is a great option for investors seeking exposure to the Utilities/Infrastructure ETFs segment of the market. There are other additional ETFs in the space that investors could consider as well.
IShares U.S. Infrastructure ETF (IFRA) tracks NYSE FACTSET U.S. INFRASTRUCTURE INDEX and the iShares Global Infrastructure ETF (IGF) tracks S&P Global Infrastructure Index. IShares U.S. Infrastructure ETF has $2.44 billion in assets, iShares Global Infrastructure ETF has $6.76 billion. IFRA has an expense ratio of 0.30% and IGF charges 0.42%.
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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Global X U.S. Infrastructure Development ETF (PAVE): ETF Research Reports Fastenal Company (FAST): Free Stock Analysis Report Deere & Company (DE): Free Stock Analysis Report iShares Global Infrastructure ETF (IGF): ETF Research Reports iShares U.S. Infrastructure ETF (IFRA): ETF Research Reports Howmet Aerospace Inc. (HWM): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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