The fund, ROBO-STOX Global Robotics and Automation GO UCITS ETF (ROBO LN), is targeted at investors looking to capitalise on the growing robotics industry.
It will combine the investment firm’s Canvas platform and ROBO-STOX’s index of listed companies in the automated technology market to provide a reference point for potential financiers.
Howie Li, co-head of Canvas at ETF Securities, said: “We are delighted to partner with ROBO-STOX, the recognised leader in robotics and automation investment research, to launch this innovative ETF in an exciting growth sector that no other industry classification body has been able to separately identify to date.
“This investment solution will provide investors with a global portfolio of listed robotics and automation companies that capture activity from both emerging and established organisations.”
Demand for industrial robots has risen by 112.5% over the last ten years, with 80,000 units supplied worldwide in 2003 increasing to more than 170,000 in 2013.
ROBO-STOX’s CEO Richard Lightbound said: “We believe the world is in the early stages of a transformational new economic era, driven by the increasing adoption of sophisticated robotics and automation technologies across all aspects of industry and day-to-day life.
“As labour costs rise and the price of automation falls, companies are approaching the tipping point for the rapid adoption of robotic technologies. Aging populations and shrinking workforces will accelerate this trend.”
Over the past decade the ROBO-STOX index has yielded an average annual return rate of 18%.
Shares are listed on the London Stock Exchange in sterling, euros and US dollars – as of this morning they carried a bid price of 640.5p and offer of 648.5p.
