Given the poor performance of equity markets in 2022, it is not surprising very few funds and ETFs have been launched with a focus on specific themes. In the first quarter of 2023, only nine products have been launched in Europe. We have listed them in the table below:
These include the VanEck Uranium and Nuclear Technologies UCITS ETF (NUKL), which tracks the MarketVector™ Global Uranium and Nuclear Energy Infrastructure Index. This in turn tracks the performance of the largest and most liquid companies involved in the uranium mining and nuclear energy infrastructure industries.
This is not the only ETF-focused on nuclear energy available to European investors: the Global X Uranium ETF USD (URNU), the SG ETN Uranium Mining (URAM), and the Sprott Uranium Miners ETF USD (U308) have been on the market for some time.
Another theme underrepresented in the European universe is water. This quarter we have a new vehicle for this theme: the Xtrackers MSCI Global SDG 6 Clean Water & Sanitation UCITS ETF (XDG6). This ETF offers exposure to companies that make a positive contribution to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 6: ensure the availability and sustainable stewardship of water and sanitation for all.
Also worth mentioning is the CPR Invest Circular Economy, which focuses on the circular economy. The circular economy is an economic model that aims to avoid waste and the linear use of resources by designing products, services and systems so that materials and resources can be used for as long as possible.
Finally, Lazard Demographic Opportunities is a fund that aims to identify behavioural dynamics within the retiree and upcoming generations of the world's population. The investment opportunities consist of stocks that benefit from the changing consumption habits of the typical representatives of these cohorts.