Hello! This week’s ETF wrap shines the light on electric vehicles, an industry that BlackRock’s Jay Jacobs says has taken off but still has a way to go — the kind of “inflection point” the firm looks for in thematic investing opportunities.
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Electric vehicles and semiconductors are hot areas for exchange-traded funds based on returns so far this year, as technology-related stocks soar in 2023.
EVs, which have been a tailwind for the semiconductor industry, represent one of the best investment themes among BlackRock’s thematic ETFs, according to Jay Jacobs, the firm’s U.S. head of thematics and active equity ETFs. BlackRock’s iShares Self-Driving EV & Tech ETF IDRV has climbed 10.3% so far this year through Wednesday, compared with an 8.6% gain for the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust SPY, according to FactSet data.
“Innovation can happen slowly and then all at once,” said Jacobs, in a phone interview. “Over the last five years or so, we’ve just seen an incredible acceleration of electric-vehicle adoption.”
While the EV industry has taken off, it still has a long way to go considering electric vehicles represent just 7% of total car sales in the U.S. — even after rapid sales growth over the past year, according to Jacobs.
“When we look at thematic investing opportunities, that’s exactly the inflection point that we are looking for,” he said, referring to the juncture where an innovative idea turns into something being adopted by the mass market. “That’s where the majority of the economic opportunity is going to materialize.”
Meanwhile, technology-related stocks have soared in 2023. The Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund XLK, which tracks an index of S&P 500 tech stocks, has skyrocketed 24.1% this year through Wednesday, according to FactSet data.
The three largest electric-vehicle ETFs based on assets under management are the Global X Autonomous & Electric Vehicles ETF DRIV, the iShares Self-Driving EV & Tech ETF and the KraneShares Electric Vehicles & Future Mobility Index ETF KARS, according to Aniket Ullal, head of ETF data and analytics at CFRA Research.
The Global X Autonomous & Electric Vehicles ETF has gained 16.7% this year through Wednesday, while the KraneShares Electric Vehicles & Future Mobility Index ETF has risen slightly more than 5% over the same period, FactSet data show.
The Global X Autonomous & Electric Vehicles ETF has “pretty big exposure to technology companies,” said Ullal, pointing to its holdings of Google parent Alphabet Inc. GOOGL and Apple Inc. AAPL as examples. The ETF’s top five holdings on May 17 included Nvidia Corp. NVDA, Tesla Inc. TSLA, Alphabet, Apple and Toyota Motor Corp. JP:7203, according to Global X’s website.
Meanwhile, the KraneShares Electric Vehicles & Future Mobility Index ETF’s largest holdings were Panasonic Holdings Corp JP:6752, Nidec Corp. JP:6594, Contemporary Amperex Technology CN:300750, BYD Co. CN:002594 and Samsung KR:006400 as of May 17, data on KraneShares’s website showed.
As for the iShares Self-Driving EV & Tech ETF, the fund’s five biggest weights on May 17 were Li Auto Inc. HK:2015, BYD HK:1211, ABB CH:ABBN, Allkem and Volkswagen XE:VOW3, according to the fund’s holdings data on BlackRock’s website.
BlackRock’s fund aims for a “pure play” strategy relating to electric and autonomous vehicles, Jacobs said. Meanwhile, he said, the iShares Semiconductor ETF SOXX should continue to benefit from a tailwind from the proliferation of electric vehicles as well as from the growth in artificial intelligence in 2023.
The iShares Semiconductor ETF has skyrocketed 24% this year through Wednesday, according to FactSet data.
Semiconductor ETFs have seen “good flows” this year, broadly attracting about $1.9 billion of capital from investors through May 15, according to Ullal. By contrast, the “future mobility” category of ETFs, which includes electric-vehicle funds, have seen aggregate outflows of $97 million over the same period, he said.
As usual, here’s your look at the top- and bottom-performing ETFs over the past week through Wednesday, according to FactSet data.
The good…
| Top Performers | %Performance |
| SPDR S&P Regional Banking ETF KRE | 9.8 |
| United States Natural Gas Fund LP UNG | 8.0 |
| iShares U.S. Regional Banks ETF IAT | 7.8 |
| SPDR S&P Bank ETF KBE | 7.5 |
| SPDR S&P Semiconductor ETF XSD | 6.4 |
| Source: FactSet data through Wednesday, May 17. Start date May 11. Excludes ETNs and leveraged products. Includes NYSE, Nasdaq and Cboe traded ETFs of $500 million or greater. |
…and the bad
| Bottom Performers | %Performance |
| PIMCO 25+ Year Zero Coupon US Treasury Index ETF ZROZ | -3.3 |
| Utilities Select Sector SPDR Fund XLU | -3.3 |
| Vanguard Utilities ETF VPU | -3.1 |
| Vanguard Extended Duration Treasury ETF EDV | -3.1 |
| iShares U.S. Utilities ETF IDU | -3.0 |
| Source: FactSet data |
New ETFs
- Roundhill Investments said Thursday that it launched the Roundhill Generative AI & Technology ETF CHAT, a fund that provides exposure to “companies at the forefront of artificial intelligence technology, with a focus on generative AI.”
- Putnam Investments announced on Thursday the launch of the Putnam Emerging Markets ex-China ETF PEMX, an actively managed fund that focuses on emerging-market companies excluding investments in China and Hong Kong.
-
BNY Mellon Investment Management announced May 17 the launch of BNY Mellon Women’s Opportunities ETF
BKWO
and BNY Mellon Innovators ETF
BKIV.
Weekly ETF reads
- Turkey ETF ends 8% lower as presidential election heads for runoff (MarketWatch)
- Fund groups race to launch first US ether futures ETF (Financial Times)
- BlackRock spies rapid growth in European retail ETF market (Financial Times)
- Cathie Wood-Linked ETF Firm Is Shut Down by Canada Regulator (Bloomberg)
