Governments have taken notice of this need, pumping billions into infrastructure projects to jump-start their economies during the recent financial downturn. This includes China’s massive $586 billion stimulus package last year. Analysts believe worldwide governmental spending on infrastructure may hit $2 trillion a year through 2015 and $35 trillion over the next 20 years. [The Building Blocks of Infrastructure ETFs.]
A good way to get in on the trend is with ETFs that cover the sector. For instance, the iShares S&P Global Infrastructure Index (NYSEArca: IGF), which tries to reflect the performance of the S&P Global Infrastructure Index, includes large global infrastructure companies involved in utilities, energy, transportation, oil & gas, airport services, highways and marine ports. The largest country allocations include the United States at 25% and Canada at 10%, with significant weightings in Western Europe, Australia and China. Sectors include utilities at 40%, industrials at 37% and energy at 21%.
For more information on the infrastructure sector, visit our infrastructure category.
Other infrastructure ETFs include:
- SPDR FTSE/Macquarie Global Infra 100 (NYSEArca: GII)
- PowerShares Emerging Markets Infrastructure (NYSEArca: PXR)
- iShares S&P Emerging Markets Infrastructure (NASDAQ: EMIF)
- Emerging Global Shares INDXX China Infrastructure (NYSEArca: CHXX)
- Emerging Global Shares INDXX Brazil Infrastructure (NYSEArca: BRXX)
Max Chen contributed to this article.