ETFs with exposure to data center sector

Screening Filters

1. sector: Real Estate

   • Purpose: Limit results to ETFs classified in the Real Estate sector.
   • Rationale: Publicly traded data centers are typically organized as Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs), and thus fall under the Real Estate sector. By focusing on Real Estate, the screener targets ETFs that are structurally most likely to hold data center operators.

2. themes: Real Estate

   • Purpose: Ensure the ETF’s primary investment theme is real estate-related.
   • Rationale: Many broad equity ETFs might hold a small amount of data center stocks but are not focused on that area. A real estate theme narrows the search to funds whose mandate is investing in property-related assets, which is where data center REITs live.

3. stock_position_pct: MoreThan90Pct

   • Purpose: Require that more than 90% of the ETF’s assets be in stocks (equities).
   • Rationale: Data center exposure comes from owning the underlying operating companies (like data center REITs), not from bonds or derivatives. This filter removes mixed-asset or bond-heavy funds and keeps ETFs that are primarily equity-based, giving more direct exposure to data center operators.

4. holdings: EQIX, DLR

   • Purpose: Require the ETF to hold Equinix (EQIX) and/or Digital Realty Trust (DLR).
   • Rationale: EQIX and DLR are two of the largest, most established data center REITs globally and widely recognized “pure plays” on the data center sector. Mandating these as holdings is a direct way to ensure the ETF has meaningful exposure to the data center industry, rather than just generic real estate.

5. expense_ratio: max 0.60

   • Purpose: Filter out ETFs with very high fees, keeping expense ratios at or below 0.60% (0.60).
   • Rationale: Among similar ETFs, lower-cost funds are generally preferable for long-term investors. This ensures the list isn’t filled with very niche or expensive products, but rather reasonably priced ETFs that provide data center exposure.

Why Results Match:

• The Real Estate sector + Real Estate theme combination steers the search toward REIT-focused and property-focused ETFs, the natural home of listed data centers.
• The equity allocation > 90% ensures that the exposure is primarily through ownership of operating companies, not bonds or other assets.
• Requiring EQIX and DLR as holdings directly targets ETFs that are significantly invested in core data center REITs, making them highly relevant to the “data center sector” theme.
• The expense ratio cap refines the list to ETFs that provide this exposure at a reasonable ongoing cost, making them more attractive for practical investment use.