BlackRock Japan has rolled out the iShares Automation & Robotics ETF (2522 JP) on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
Companies are selected that derive significant revenue from over 40 themes related to robotics & automation.
The fund – a version of which is already available in Europe – provides exposure to a globally diversified portfolio of companies developing technologies in more than 40 robotics and automation fields including manufacturing robotics, automatic driving vehicles, 3D printing, and artificial intelligence.
The underlying reference is the iStoxx FactSet Automation and Robotics Index which includes relevant stocks from both developed and emerging markets.
To be eligible for inclusion, companies must derive at least 50% of their revenue from automation and robotics. Additionally, they must have a 3-month average daily trading volume (ADTV) of at least €1 million and a free-float market capitalization greater than €200m.
To avoid concentration risk, the index has a minimum of 80 constituents which are equally weighted at re-balance, occurring annually in June. If the screening process results in a too few constituents, the revenue filter is progressively lowered in steps of 5% until the number of constituents is equal to or greater than 80.
Stocks from the US (33.3%) and Japan (27.3%) make up the majority of the index followed by firms listed in Taiwan (8.8%), Germany (6.7%) and the UK (4.9%). Constituents are primarily drawn from the Technology (49.7%) and Industrial Goods & Services (44.7%) sectors.
“Automation is crucial for the Japanese economy contending with an ageing population and a declining workforce,” said Jason Miller, Head of iShares Japan at BlackRock. “iShares is leveraging the iStoxx FactSet Automation & Robotics Index to provide investors with a product that captures opportunities automation affords, where a fourth of the companies represented are Japanese.”
“Thematic investing attempts to capitalize on broad, disruptive, compelling and often hard-to-predict trends that are changing our society,” added Inderpal Gujral, Head of Product at Stoxx. “Each of our thematic concepts on its own has the potential to be a fantastic growth and transformation story.”
The ETF comes with a fee of 0.48%.
BlackRock’s European domiciled equivalent, the iShares Automation & Robotics UCITS ETF (RBOT LN), which tracks the same iStoxx FactSet Index, was launched September 2016 and has accumulated over $2.0 billion in assets under management.