Harrison Street Enters ETF Arena with Active Infrastructure Fund

CHICAGO, IL – January 30, 2026 – Harrison Street Asset Management, a global heavyweight in alternative investments with over $108 billion in assets, has made its debut in the exchange-traded fund market with the launch of the Harrison Street Infrastructure Active ETF (Ticker: NFRX). The fund, which began trading today on Nasdaq, marks a significant strategic expansion for the firm, aiming to provide a broader range of investors with access to its deep expertise in global infrastructure.

The new ETF is an actively managed portfolio designed to invest in listed infrastructure companies across the globe. This move signals a deliberate effort by the Chicago-based firm, long known for its dominance in private real estate and infrastructure funds for institutional clients, to cater to the growing demand from the private wealth sector. NFRX represents the firm's first foray into the liquid, publicly traded ETF structure, complementing its existing suite of closed-end and open-end private vehicles.

Bridging Institutional Expertise and Private Wealth

The launch of NFRX is a calculated move to bridge the gap between institutional-grade asset management and the portfolios of high-net-worth individuals and their financial advisors. The fund will be managed by Harrison Street's private wealth division (HSPW), which is specifically tasked with delivering the firm's alternative investment strategies to the wealth management community.

“The launch of our first ETF is a natural evolution of our firm’s longstanding leadership in real assets,” said Christopher Merrill, Co-Founder & Global CEO of HSAM, in a statement. He emphasized the firm's commitment to "building innovative investment solutions that provide investors with efficient and meaningful exposure to essential assets across the infrastructure sector.”

Historically, direct investment in large-scale infrastructure projects has been the domain of large pension funds, endowments, and sovereign wealth funds. The ETF structure democratizes this access, offering daily liquidity and transparency. According to Mark Quam, CEO of HSPW, the fund is "purpose-built for wealth managers and private wealth investors," who are increasingly seeking the diversification, income generation, and potential for downside risk mitigation that infrastructure can provide. This strategy taps into a broader trend of alternative asset managers looking to expand their distribution channels beyond traditional institutional clients into the rapidly growing private wealth market.

Capitalizing on Global Megatrends

NFRX is positioned to capitalize on powerful, long-term secular trends that are reshaping the global economy and creating unprecedented demand for new and modernized infrastructure. The fund will focus on four key sectors: utilities, midstream energy, digital, and transportation—all of which are at the epicenter of profound structural shifts.

The timing of the launch aligns with a surge in infrastructure investment worldwide. Global capital flowing into infrastructure projects is projected to exceed $9 trillion in 2026, driven by government initiatives and private sector investment aimed at modernization and meeting climate goals.

Robert Becker, Chief Investment Strategist of HSPW and one of the ETF's portfolio managers, noted the tailwinds. “We believe infrastructure fundamentals are more attractive than ever," he stated, pointing to "an unprecedented global need for infrastructure development" fueled by trends like AI, digitization, re-industrialization, and electrification.

The demand from artificial intelligence alone is staggering. The digital infrastructure market, which includes data centers and fiber networks, is projected to grow from approximately $439 billion in 2025 to over $1 trillion by 2030. This explosive growth is placing immense strain on existing power grids, with U.S. data center power demand estimated to nearly triple as a percentage of total demand by 2030. This, in turn, fuels massive investment in the utilities sector for grid upgrades and new power generation, creating a symbiotic growth cycle for two of NFRX's core target areas. Similar tailwinds are present in transportation, with supply chain re-shoring driving investment in ports and rail, and in energy, where the transition to renewables requires a complete overhaul of the grid.

The Case for Active Management in a Crowded Field

Harrison Street is entering a competitive but burgeoning infrastructure ETF landscape. The market already includes several large, established passive funds, such as the iShares Global Infrastructure ETF (IGF) with $9.4 billion in assets and the Global X U.S. Infrastructure Development ETF (PAVE) holding $10.98 billion. However, NFRX is wagering that its active management strategy will provide a critical edge.

While passive ETFs track a fixed index, an active approach allows portfolio managers to select companies they believe are best positioned to outperform, navigate complex regulatory environments, and avoid potential pitfalls. This can be particularly valuable in the diverse and rapidly evolving infrastructure sector. The firm is leaning heavily on the experience of its management team, particularly Robert Becker, who brings nearly three decades of experience, including 18 years at Cohen & Steers where he co-founded its global listed infrastructure strategy.

This deep bench of expertise is central to the fund's value proposition. The managers will actively seek out what they identify as the most compelling opportunities within their target sectors, rather than being beholden to an index's composition. This strategy comes as active ETFs are gaining significant traction, attracting over $447 billion in net inflows year-to-date through September 2025, as investors seek alpha in a complex market. Harrison Street is betting that advisors will see the value in paying for specialized expertise to navigate the nuances of global infrastructure assets.

The fund's strategy leverages Harrison Street's long-term track record in the private infrastructure space, where it already manages approximately $30 billion in assets. This existing institutional knowledge, from core strategies focusing on mid-market assets to closed-end funds targeting transport and power, provides a deep well of analytical insight to inform the stock selection for the new public ETF. By concentrating its investments in infrastructure companies, the fund's performance will be closely tied to this specific market segment, a risk that its managers believe is outweighed by the sector's powerful long-term growth prospects.