A New Infrastructure ETF For The New Year

With President-elect Donald Trump looking to spend $1 trillion on shoring up U.S. bridges, railways, roads and more, infrastructure stocks and the related exchange-traded funds are expected to be beneficiaries of Trump being the 45th U.S. president.

Legg Mason Inc LM, which has been growing its ETF lineup in recent months, introduced the Legg Mason Global Infrastructure ETF INFR last week. The new ETF charges 0.53 percent per year, or $53 on a $10,000 investment.

Legg Mason's New Infrastructure ETF

“The new global infrastructure ETF will try to reflect the performance of the RARE Global Infrastructure Index, which is comprised of global infrastructure-related equities,” according to ETF Trends. “The underlying index will also screen for other factors, including a liquidity filter for companies with a minimum of $500 million market capitalization and a 1-year average daily value traded of $2 million, along with those ranked from the highest dividend yield and cash flow yield. Components are then weighted by market capitalization and free float, RARE exposure score, price volatility and region,” according to the report.

Data suggest infrastructure investments be spending more time the in the spotlight. After all, U.S. infrastructure is shabby. Recently, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities said infrastructure spending in the world's largest economy fell to a 30-year low.

Holdings Strategy

INFR can hold stocks from a variety of sectors, including electric utilities, gas utilities, independent power producers & energy traders, multi-utilities, renewable electricity and water utilities.

“Additionally, the fund may hold economically sensitive infrastructure sectors, including airport services, cable & satellite, highways & railtracks, marine ports & services, oil & gas storage & transportation, railroads, and specialized real estate investment trusts,” reported ETF Trends.

Every quarter, INFR's underlying index uses “leading economic indicators are used to establish weight between economically sensitive sectors and more regulated/defensive sectors,” according to Legg Mason.

INFR's top holdings include railroad giant Union Pacific Corporation UNP, CSX Corporation CSX, Duke Energy Corp DUK and Norfolk Southern Corp. NSC.