Want an exchange traded fund that can capture gains from robots? The wait is over.

Want an exchange traded fund that can capture gains from robots? The wait is over.

ETF Securities has rolled out this tongue-twister: the ROBO-STOX® Global Robotics and Automation GO UCITS ETF. It is now listed on the London Stock Exchange.

Described as “Europe’s first and only global robotics and automation ETF”, it is designed to capture this trend in business and society.

“After the rise of the internet age, rapid advances in technology such as machine vision, motion sensors and image and voice recognition are enabling robots to perform increasingly sophisticated and delicate knowledge-based work. This widens their application to an incredible array of industries and applications, namely across sectors such as manufacturing, services, healthcare and exploration, in addition to the automotive industry where penetration of robotics is more advanced,” ETF Securities said in a statement.

The firm gives the following numbers: In the last 10 years, the worldwide annual supply of industrial robots more than doubled from 80,000 units in 2003 to more than 170,000 in 2013.

At present, the firm said, neither the traditional Global Industry Classification Standard nor the Industry Classification Benchmark – used to standardise industry classifications, recognises “robotics” and/or “automation” as an official sector classification.  However, this has been fixed. ROBO-STOX®, an organisation, whose advisory board includes senior academics and experts in the field, tracks this sector.

Track those robots
The Index is made up of 82 companies; they must be listed on a recognised global stock exchanges and satisfy minimum criteria relating to market capitalisation and average daily value traded. The index’s weighting approach captures robotic “pure plays” (so called “bellwethers”, currently 40 per cent of the index) and stocks with robotic segments (currently 60 per cent of the Index). The constituents are reviewed and rebalanced on a quarterly basis, ETF Securities said.

ETF Securities said that, based on back-tested figures, the index has risen more than four-fold, achieving an annualised rate of return of over 18 per cent over the past ten years, substantially outperforming most major equity, tech and other asset class benchmarks.

The new ETF is registered for sale in the UK and a number of other European nations.