SSgA's New Global Infrastructure ETF: Surprisingly Conservative

The new SPDR FTSE/Macquarie Global Infrastructure 100 ETF (GII) is the kind of fund that makes the marketing types salivate. Launched by State Street Global Advisors [SSgA] onto the American Stock Exchange on January 30, the fund tracks an index of stocks involved in “infrastructure industries such as pipelines, transportation services, electricity, water and telecommunications” in the developed and emerging world.

It doesn’t take a genius to see the attraction of such a fund. Not only is the developed world woefully behind the eight ball when it comes to maintaining its infrastructure, the developing world has an insatiable appetite for the stuff. Ask any recent visitor to one of the big developing countries: the need is tremendous. India may be growing by leaps and bounds, for instance, but the road from the airport to downtown Mumbai is virtually un-navigable, the water system doesn’t work, and electricity is spotty at best. China may be doing better, but only because it’s throwing money at infrastructure projects like there’s no tomorrow.

"With the launch of this SPDR, we are responding to our clients' demands for access to stocks that cover infrastructure industries on a global scale," said Anthony Rochte, senior managing director of State Street Global Advisors.

A look at its holdings of the ETF, however, reminds you that it pays to … look at the holdings. While the first thing you or I might think when someone says “global infrastructure” is China and India, the fund is almost entirely focused on the developed world. The top country weights are shown below:

It’s worth noting that nothing in SSgA’s marketing materials mentions or suggests India, China or other fast-developing regions; there’s no bait-and-switch going on here. But investors interested in the fund should realize what they are getting: essentially a global utility fund focused on the developed world. The truth, of course, is that the developed world has huge infrastructure needs, too, and that global utilities stand to benefit from delivering those services.

As might be expected of a fund dominated by the Utilities sector, the fund combines a high dividend yield (3.1 percent) with relatively slow growth (8.4 percent 5-year earnings growth). In other words, this is a relatively conservative fund for conservative-minded investors looking for a bit of global utility exposure.

The new Infrastructure ETF is just one piece of SSgA’s recent and aggressive expansion into the global ETF market, having recently launched a world ex-US fund and two promising Japan funds. The group plans to continue its expansion soon.

• More on SSGA's New Infrastructure ETF, New Infrastructure ETF From SSGA: A Closer Look