The
Global X Robotics & Artificial Intelligence Thematic ETF (BOTZ) is up 60% within the past year and one of its top holdings, Japanese robot maker Fanuc Corp, just boosted its profit forecast, citing an increased demand in electric cars.
BOTZ seeks to invest in companies that potentially stand to benefit from increased adoption and utilization of robotics and artificial intelligence (AI), including those involved with industrial robotics and automation, non-industrial robots, and autonomous vehicles.
Additionally, BOTZ seeks to provide investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance, before fees and expenses, of the Indxx Global Robotics & Artificial Intelligence Thematic Index. The index itself captures large- and mid-cap representation across 23 Developed Markets (DM) and 24 Emerging Markets (EM) countries.
Fundamental Context
U.S. investors have been drifting away from international equities. According to BlackRock’s advisor portfolio analysis, the average international equity allocation for U.S. financial advisors’ equity sleeve at the end of June 2020 was only 25%, down from 30% in 2018. This is significantly lower than the share of economic impact of those international economies and much lower than 42% in the MSCI All Country World Index. While some investors might have made a call on U.S. outperformance, this is likely also for some an unconscious decision stemming in part from the relative strong performance of U.S. equities. For example,