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Should You Invest in the Global X U.S. Infrastructure Development ETF (PAVE)?

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If you're interested in broad exposure to the Utilities - Infrastructure segment of the equity market, look no further than the Global X U.S. Infrastructure Development ETF (PAVE - Free Report) , 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.

Additionally, sector ETFs offer convenient 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 15, placing it in bottom 6%.

Index Details

The fund is sponsored by Global X Management. It has amassed assets over $237.94 million, making it one of the average sized 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

When considering an ETF's total return, expense ratios are an important factor, and cheaper funds can significantly outperform their more expensive counterparts in the long term if all other factors remain equal.

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 0.53%.

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 Industrials sector--about 70.80% of the portfolio. Materials and Information Technology round out the top three.

Looking at individual holdings, Fastenal Co (FAST - Free Report) accounts for about 4.23% of total assets, followed by Rockwell Automation Inc (ROK - Free Report) and United Rentals Inc (URI - Free Report) .

The top 10 holdings account for about 34.16% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

So far this year, PAVE has lost about -2.62%, and was up about 5.37% in the last one year (as of 09/17/2020). During this past 52-week period, the fund has traded between $10.02 and $17.92.

The ETF has a beta of 1.34 and standard deviation of 29.57% for the trailing three-year period. With about 94 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Alternatives

Global X U.S. Infrastructure Development ETF sports a Zacks ETF Rank of 4 (Sell), which is based on expected asset class return, expense ratio, and momentum, among other factors. PAVE, then, is not the best option for investors seeking exposure to the Utilities/Infrastructure ETFs segment of the market. However, there are better ETFs in the space to consider.

SPDR SP Global Infrastructure ETF (GII - Free Report) tracks S&P Global Infrastructure Index and the iShares Global Infrastructure ETF (IGF - Free Report) tracks S&P Global Infrastructure Index. SPDR SP Global Infrastructure ETF has $351.51 million in assets, iShares Global Infrastructure ETF has $3.19 billion. GII has an expense ratio of 0.40% and IGF charges 0.46%.

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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