ETF Securities (ETFS) has teamed up with US-based specialist research and robotics provider ROBO Global to launch the ETFS ROBO Global Robotics and Automation ETF (ROBO). The company said this was the first fund in Australia to give investors access to global companies focusing on robotics automation and AI (RAAI), through tracking ROBO Global’s RAAI Index. ETF Securities Australia head Kris Walesby told financialobserver that some of the better known companies that made up the robotics economy included IROBOT, Harmonic Drive Systems, Mobileye NV and 3D Systems Corp. However, he said that broadly the companies emerging as leaders were not yet household names and the industry was still emerging as the driver of change. “This is why many suggest using a fund to take exposure to this ‘economy’. Selecting the best emerging companies is very difficult indeed,” Walesby said. “Generally we feel that RAAI technology is likely to grow in unskilled and semi-skilled industries where the service is easily replicable.” He continued that many have suggested starting a fund to expose this niche economy. He said ROBO Global was developing other robotics products in the ETF space overseas including in the US, Asia and Europe. “The robotics and automation industries are part of a global megatrend which is expected to outperform the broader market in coming decades,” he said. Walesby said that by 2025 the RAAI industry would expand by nearly 20 times and could be worth as much as $1.2 trillion. “ROBO Global is the pioneer in this area, having created the first robotics and automation ETF on the NASDAQ in 2013, and continues to work with a strategic advisory team including leading robotics experts,” he said. He added that the investment opportunity in the industry was large and if captured correctly, growth prospects from companies within the industry were significant. ROBO tracked the performance of 83 stocks from 12 high-growth sub-sectors in more than 15 countries, focusing on particularly innovative small and mid-caps and avoiding more mature technology names which may lack innovation. The new ETF, which has already begun trading on the ASX, had a management fee of 0.69 per cent and would make distributions yearly.
UK-based exchange-traded fund provider ETF Securities has partnered with US specialist research and robotics provider ROBO Global to launch an ETF on the Australian Securities Exchange. "The robotics and automation industries are part of a global megatrend which is expected to outperform the broader market in coming decades", said ETF Securities Australia head Kris Walesby. The robotics automation and artificial intelligence industry could be worth up to $1.2tn by 2025, said Walesby.