ETF Securities has completed the sale of its Canvas ETF platform to Legal & General Investment Management
The sale of Canvas, ETF Securities’ European Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) platform, to Legal & General Investment Management (LGIM) has completed. ETF Securities has completed the sale of its Canvas ETF platform to Legal & General Investment Management.
All management responsibilities for these products have moved to LGIM so any future enquiries should be directed to LGIM ETF Sales using the details below:
As a reminder, the products transferred to LGIM include:
• ETFS ISE Cyber Security GO UCITS ETF
• ROBO Global Robotics and Automation GO UCITS ETF
• ETFS Battery Value-Chain GO UCITS ETF
• ETFS Ecommerce Logistics GO UCITS ETF
• ETFS Pharma Breakthrough GO UCITS ETF
• ETFS-E Fund MSCI China A GO UCITS ETF
• ETFS US Energy Infrastructure MLP GO UCITS ETF
• ETFS Longer Dated All Commodities Go UCITS ETF
• ETFS All Commodities GO UCITS ETF
• ETFS Longer Dated All Commodities Ex-Agriculture and Livestock GO UCITS ETF
• ETFS DAXglobal Gold Mining GO UCITS ETF
• ETFS Russell 2000 US Small Cap GO UCITS ETF
• ETFS Lombard Odier IM Euro Corporate Bond Fundamental GO UCITS ETF
• ETFS Lombard Odier IM Global Corporate Bond Fundamental GO UCITS ETF
• ETFS Lombard Odier IM Global Government Bond Fundamental GO UCITS ETF
• ETFS Lombard Odier IM Emerging Market Local Government Bond Fundamental GO UCITS ETF
• ETFS FTSE 100 Super Short Strategy (Daily 2x) GO UCITS ETF
• ETFS DAX Daily 2x Short GO UCITS ETF
• ETFS FTSE 100 Leveraged (Daily 2x) GO UCITS ETF
• ETFS DAX Daily 2x Long GO UCITS ETF
ETF Securities’ European products outside those on the Canvas platform, including our range of Exchange Traded Commodities are unaffected by this acquisition.
This communication has been issued and approved for the purpose of section 21 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 by ETF Securities (UK) Limited (“ETFS UK”) which is authorised and regulated by the United Kingdom Financial Conduct Authority (the “FCA”).
The information contained in this communication is for your general information only and is neither an offer for sale nor a solicitation of an offer to buy securities. This communication should not be used as the basis for any investment decision. Historical performance is not an indication of future performance and any investments may go down in value.
This document is not, and under no circumstances is to be construed as, an advertisement or any other step in furtherance of a public offering of shares or securities in the United States or any province or territory thereof. Neither this document nor any copy hereof should be taken, transmitted or distributed (directly or indirectly) into the United States.
This communication may contain independent market commentary prepared by ETFS UK based on publicly available information
This communication may contain independent market commentary prepared by ETFS UK based on publicly available information. Although ETFS UK endeavours to ensure the accuracy of the content in this communication, ETFS UK does not warrant or guarantee its accuracy or correctness. Any third party data providers used to source the information in this communication make no warranties or representation of any kind relating to such data. Where ETFS UK has expressed its own opinions related to product or market activity, these views may change. Neither ETFS UK, nor any affiliate, nor any of their respective officers, directors, partners, or employees accepts any liability whatsoever for any direct or consequential loss arising from any use of this publication or its contents.
ETFS UK is required by the FCA to clarify that it is not acting for you in any way in relation to the investment or investment activity to which this communication relates. In particular, ETFS UK will not provide any investment services to you and or advise you on the merits of, or make any recommendation to you in relation to, the terms of any transaction. No representative of ETFS UK is authorised to behave in any way which would lead you to believe otherwise. ETFS UK is not, therefore, responsible for providing you with the protections afforded to its clients and you should seek your own independent legal, investment and tax or other advice as you see fit.
In the run-up to Christmas, the convenience offered by Amazon Prime is something that many of us take for granted. As Amazon’s competitors struggle to catch up, the Prime service is putting tremendous pressure on supply chains around the world. The growth of the Prime service has been greatly facilitated by the higher intensity afforded by Amazon’s warehouse robots. It provides just one example of how robotics, automation and artificial intelligence are fast transforming our world.
Amazon’s 2012 acquisition of Kiva Systems – now Amazon Robotics – was a turning point for the automation industry. Kiva’s robots greatly improved flexibility and productivity at Amazon’s warehouses, allowing the company to offer faster service and making its Prime offering viable and sustainable.
Now that Amazon has taken Kiva in house, other companies are striving to accelerate the automation of supply chains elsewhere. So, as 2018 unfolds, we should see increased application of automation around the globe. Jeremie Capron, Managing Partner and Director of Research at Robo Global, says “with only around 5% of warehouses currently automated, there is vast scope for growth here”. Logistics is just one of the many fields undergoing a robotics revolution. Manufacturing is set to be transformed by technologies such as autonomous manipulation and machine vision. The former uses robots to recognise and select specific components, while the latter performs quality inspection in place of human eyes, through a combination of cameras and advanced algorithms.
We are also seeing the widespread deployment of collaborative robots – autonomous machines that can work alongside human operators, rather than having to be ‘caged’ for safety reasons. This allows machines to do the more onerous or repetitive tasks, while human workers can concentrate on adding value in more sophisticated ways.
‘Cobots’ are becoming cheaper, smaller and easier to program, and the sector is now growing at an annualised rate of over 50%.1
These automated tools aren’t perfect. But they are constantly improving through the use of artificial intelligence: specifically, machine learning. “When automated systems make a mistake,” says autonomous-systems pioneer Raffaello D’Andrea, PhD, “learningenabled algorithms allow them to avoid making it again. In mundane tasks, this gives them a real advantage over human workers, who can make the same errors repeatedly because of distraction or fatigue.
And, crucially, machine learning allows solutions to be disseminated quickly across machines worldwide.”
But it’s not only in the repetitive processes of logistics and manufacturing that robots are making an impact. They’re taking on much more complex tasks too. Autonomous vehicles are already with us – and will be making their presence felt in the year ahead. “Before 2018 is out,” according to Jeremie Capron, “we’re likely to see the first autonomous taxi. As with so much automation, this will start small – probably in a single town or city – before broadening out as mistakes are corrected and customer experiences are improved.”
Healthcare will be another growth area in 2018. Robotic surgery systems have been around for some time, but their use is accelerating.
Intuitive Surgical’s da Vinci robots performed some 750,000 abdominal procedures in 2016;2 in 2017, the growth rate has been in the mid to high teens.3 And robots are now being used for other procedures too, including spinal surgery. The use of 3D systems to model the spine leads to greater precision and better patient outcomes. Israel’s Mazor Robotics has reported increased sales of its spinal systems this year,4 but with potential for huge improvements in surgical safety, there is much more to come here.
For investors looking to harness these powerful trends, there are several important considerations. First, penetration of the existing markets in manufacturing, logistics and healthcare is still very low.
So the automation megatrend is very much in its infancy. Investors therefore have an opportunity to ‘get in early’. They should also be aware, however, that growth may be volatile and is not guaranteed.
The disrupters may themselves be disrupted.
Second, the implications of a given technology can be hard to predict. The benefits of Kiva’s robots were initially thought to lie in enhanced cost efficiency. But warehouse operators saw the main advantages in the flexibility they offered and in the elimination of human inefficiency. Similarly, the use of a given technology can skip from one application to another, and from one industry to the next. The initial application of an autonomous system can be seen as a testing ground, in which a technology is refined and enhanced – before it finds other applications elsewhere. Jeremie Capron notes that these developments are inherently unpredictable, because artificial intelligence and robotics are systems-led phenomena: “new capabilities are developed, and applications of those capabilities follow”.
Third, because it’s hard to predict where the next breakthrough will come, it’s important for investors to have exposure across the theme. Not only does this position portfolios for the unexpected breakouts, but it also ensures that they are not overexposed to the biggest names in the business. Some of the best-known industrial robotics companies – the likes of Fanuc, ABB and Rockwell – are highly cyclical. “This cyclicality can be terrifying for investors,” says Richard Lightbound, Managing Director and CEO EMEA of ROBO Global. “So spreading investments across a broad range of companies should result in a much smoother ride than simply buying the flagship industrial firms. And, as we come to the end of an extraordinary year for technology stocks, this diversification also avoids overexposure to companies such as Nvidia that are now trading on elevated valuations.”
Above all, it is worth noting that this revolution is only at the beginning and could continue to see growth. Kiva started selling its systems only in 2005. Few could have foreseen that it would be playing such a large part in the expansion of e-commerce today.
The growth pattern typical in robotics, automation and artificial intelligence means that companies can rise from a barely noticeable start to global prominence in a short period of time. This implies that there is considerable growth to be captured in emergent technologies.
By Christmas 2018, this exciting megatrend will be much further advanced – doubtless having taken some surprising turns along the way. But for far-sighted investors, there’s no time like the present.
1 ReportsnReports, Collaborative Reports Market by Payload Capacity, September 2017
2 Intuitive Surgical, Annual Report 2016
3 Reuters, Intuitive Surgical raises 2017 procedure growth forecast, April 2017
4 The Motley Fool, This Growing Robotics Company Is a Hit With Surgeons, Nov 2017
Important Information
This communication has been issued and approved for the purpose of section 21 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 by ETF Securities (UK) Limited (“ETFS UK”) which is authorised and regulated by the United Kingdom Financial Conduct Authority (the “FCA”). While this communication is made by ETFS UK, certain content has been produced and provided for ETFS UK by ROBO Global Partners Ltd. (“ROBO Global®”). ROBO Global® is an independent, unaffiliated third party to ETFS UK.
No forwarding, reprinting, republication or any other redistribution of this content is permissible without the express consent of ROBO Global ® and ETFS UK. ROBO Global® and ETFS UK reserve the right to enforce their respective copyrights and pursue any such other action as they deem appropriate in respect of any such unauthorised use, republication or redistribution of this communication.
The information contained in this communication is for your general information only and is neither an offer for sale nor a solicitation of an offer to buy securities. This communication should not be used as the basis for any investment decision.
Historical performance is not an indication of future performance and any investments may go down in value.
This document is not, and under no circumstances is to be construed as, an advertisement or any other step in furtherance of a public offering of shares or securities in the United States or any province or territory thereof. Neither this document nor any copy hereof should be taken, transmitted or distributed (directly or indirectly) into the United States.
This communication may contain independent market commentary prepared by ETFS UK based on publicly available information.
Although ETFS UK endeavours to ensure the accuracy of the content in this communication, ETFS UK does not warrant or guarantee its accuracy or correctness. Any third party data providers used to source the information in this communication make no warranties or representation of any kind relating to such data. Where ETFS UK has expressed its own opinions related to product or market activity, these views may change. Neither ETFS UK, nor any affiliate, nor any of their respective officers, directors, partners, or employees accepts any liability whatsoever for any direct or consequential loss arising from any use of this publication or its contents.
ETFS UK is required by the FCA to clarify that it is not acting for you in any way in relation to the investment or investment activity to which this communication relates. In particular, ETFS UK will not provide any investment services to you and or advise you on the merits of, or make any recommendation to you in relation to, the terms of any transaction. No representative of ETFS UK is authorised to behave in any way which would lead you to believe otherwise. ETFS UK is not, therefore, responsible for providing you with the protections afforded to its clients and you should seek your own independent legal, investment and tax or other advice as you see fit.
Investing in the biggest security story of our time
Cyber security: Investing in the biggest security story of our time
Cyber security has become a top priority for companies and governments worldwide and it’s easy to see why: the move to digital means that businesses have a greater reliance than ever on the internet for a huge array of functions. And can be seen from the almost daily reports of security breaches and high profile attacks, no individuals, businesses or even governments are safe. In the last year alone, we have witnessed cyber attacks on organisations of every kind, from US political parties to UK mobile phone operators.
Senior executives, rather than back-office IT teams, now have ultimate responsibility for protecting networks, data and internet-enabled devices. As a result, cyber security has become big business: an estimated $1 trillion globally will be spent on cyber security products and services between 2017 and 2021. The risk of cyber attacks has also been heightened by the growing number of internet-connected devices globally. It is expected that 200 billion smart devices will be in use by 2020.
With cyber security now a megatrend, how can investors access this growing sector?
What is cyber security?
First and foremost, the cyber security industry is not a single discipline – it involves the expertise of companies in a range of sectors, including software development, communications equipment, advisory firms and aerospace and defence companies. There is no single way companies can keep their networks, devices and data secure: training staff to look out for bogus emails is as important as keeping software up to date and encrypting the most sensitive data.
The overall goal of cyber security is to protect computer networks, programs, connected devices such as desktop computers and smartphones, and the data they hold, from unauthorised access and theft. This could be a deliberate and/or malicious attack by a cyber criminal looking to steal data to sell, a hacker looking to cause mischief or a business rival or nation state looking for sensitive information. It could also be an innocent mistake; 17.7 per cent of data breaches were caused by unintentional actions or errors, according to 2016 research by Verizon.
The cyber threat is real – and companies are spending money to tackle it
One of the unique aspects of cyber security is that cyber threats are constantly evolving: as systems and devices evolve, would-be attackers are developing loopholes to exploit them. The number of cyber threats affecting businesses reached an all-time high in 2016, including a 752 per cent jump in the varieties of ransomware seen by security experts, according to Trend Micro research.
High-profile cyber attacks are illustrative of the potential damage cyber attacks can have on a company’s reputation, revenue and future growth prospects. Yahoo last year disclosed two breaches, one affecting more than 1 billion accounts and the second around 500 million users.5 These breaches resulted in US criminal charges and caused Verizon to abandon its takeover bid of Yahoo for $350 million. In the UK, internet service provider TalkTalk had to pay a record £400,000 fine after the personal details of 150,000 customers were accessed by a cyber-attack. In the political sphere, it is alleged that Russian hackers targeted senior Democratic party figures as part of efforts to influence the outcome of last year’s US presidential election.
IDC forecasts a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8.3 per cent for the cyber security industry, more than twice the rate of overall IT spending growth, between 2016 and 20207. Within cyber security, the largest areas of growth will be mobile security, Internet of Things (IoT) security, and specialised threat analysis and protection, according to Bloomberg and IDC.
How can investors access the cyber security megatrend?
Cyber security, and the organisations and products that companies use to combat the threat, will become increasingly important: regulatory requirements on data protection and privacy are set to increase, and the expansion of the Internet of Things means more objects, from phones to fridges, will have an internet connection and produce data that will need to be secured.
Governments are also making it a priority: Philip Hammond, UK Chancellor of the Exchequer, has set up the National Cyber Security Strategy, underpinned by a £1.9 billion investment, and President Trump in the US is expected to sign an executive order on cyber security in the spring.
All these elements mean businesses are likely to allocate bigger budgets to cyber security. However it is too early in the life of the cyber security megatrend to clearly identify any winners: there are many competing technologies addressing the ever-evolving threat, including the work of start-ups that haven’t yet secured patents. These smaller companies are offering innovative technologies and products, and venture capital firms invested around $8 billion in cyber security companies between 2014 and 2016. Additionally, trying to pick individual stocks among companies at such an early stage exposes investors to a higher degree of volatility than they may wish to take on.
Investment exposure to the cyber security industry therefore requires a passive approach. A global and diversified exposure can give investors access to all the elements spurring growth of the cyber security space. Typically, smaller and midcap companies have been offering the most innovative technologies and products, and so any exposure should ideally capture these players. Finally, in order to remain true to the theme, an equal-weight portfolio ensures end-to-end exposure to the whole ecosystem of companies and provides exposure to the companies that will be tomorrow’s winners.
This communication has been issued and approved for the purpose of section 21 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 by ETF Securities (UK) Limited (“ETFS UK”) which is authorised and regulated by the United Kingdom Financial Conduct Authority (the “FCA”). While this communication is made by ETFS UK, certain content has been produced and provided for ETFS UK by ROBO Global Partners Ltd. (“ROBO Global®”). ROBO Global® is an independent, unaffiliated third party to ETFS UK. No forwarding, reprinting, republication or any other redistribution of this content is permissible without the express consent of ROBO Global® and ETFS UK. ROBO Global® and ETFS UK reserve the right to enforce their respective copyrights and pursue any such other action as they deem appropriate in respect of any such unauthorised use, republication or redistribution of this communication.
The information contained in this communication is for your general information only and is neither an offer for sale nor a solicitation of an offer to buy securities. This communication should not be used as the basis for any investment decision. Historical performance is not an indication of future performance and any investments may go down in value.
This document is not, and under no circumstances is to be construed as, an advertisement or any other step in furtherance of a public offering of shares or securities in the United States or any province or territory thereof. Neither this document nor any copy hereof should be taken, transmitted or distributed (directly or indirectly) into the United States.
This communication may contain independent market commentary prepared by ETFS UK based on publicly available information. Although ETFS UK endeavours to ensure the accuracy of the content in this communication, ETFS UK does not warrant or guarantee its accuracy or correctness. Any third party data providers used to source the information in this communication make no warranties or representation of any kind relating to such data. Where ETFS UK has expressed its own opinions related to product or market activity, these views may change. Neither ETFS UK, nor any affiliate, nor any of their respective officers, directors, partners, or employees accepts any liability whatsoever for any direct or consequential loss arising from any use of this publication or its contents.
ETFS UK is required by the FCA to clarify that it is not acting for you in any way in relation to the investment or investment activity to which this communication relates. In particular, ETFS UK will not provide any investment services to you and or advise you on the merits of, or make any recommendation to you in relation to, the terms of any transaction. No representative of ETFS UK is authorised to behave in any way which would lead you to believe otherwise. ETFS UK is not, therefore, responsible for providing you with the protections afforded to its clients and you should seek your own independent legal, investment and tax or other advice as you see fit.
From 16 September 2016, we are switching to full physical replication
ROBO Global® Robotics and Automation GO UCITS ETF
Switching to Physical Replication and TER Reduction
From 16 September 2016, we are switching to full physical replication, so directly purchasing stocks in the index and will not be engaging in securities lending. Simultaneously, the management fee will be reduced to 0.80% per annum.
Responding to market feedback, these changes illustrate our commitment to making effective investment in robotics and automation, an increasingly important investment megatrend, more accessible to all investors.
Our partner, ROBO Global®, a leading firm of dedicated robotics experts, has written a guide for investors about what to look out for when investing in this megatrend.
Unrivalled broad global exposure to a unique global basket of selected robotics and automation companies, with less than 2% overlap with traditional indices.
ROBO Global® is the market leader in creating the world’s first and most comprehensive robotics and automation index, used as a benchmark across the USA, Europe and Asia.
Diversified index of 79 stocks means potentially reduced volatility versus investing directly in the underlying individual robotics and automation stocks.
Quarterly rebalancing provides responsiveness to new robotics and automation trends and companies.
Physically backed and TER of 0.80% per annum from 16 September 2016.
This communication has been issued and approved by ETF Securities (UK) Limited which is authorised and regulated by the United Kingdom Financial Conduct Authority.
This communication is only targeted at qualified or professional investors.
The fund(s) discussed in this communication are issued by GO UCITS ETF Solutions Plc (the ”Company”). The Company is an open-ended investment company with variable capital having segregated liability between its sub-funds and is organised under the laws of Ireland. The Company is regulated, and has been authorised as a UCITS by the Central Bank of Ireland pursuant to the European Communities (Undertaking for Collective Investment in Transferable Securities) Regulations, 2003 and is structured as an umbrella company with multiple sub-funds.
Investments may go up or down in value and you may lose some or all of the amount invested. Past performance is not necessarily a guide to future performance. The information contained in this communication is neither an offer for sale nor a solicitation of an offer to buy securities nor shall any securities be offered or sold to any person in any jurisdiction in which an offer, solicitation, purchase or sale would be unlawful under the securities law of such jurisdiction. This communication should not be used as the basis for any investment decision. You should consult an independent investment adviser prior to making any investment in order to determine its suitability to your circumstances.
The ROBO Global® Robotics and Automation GO UCITS ETF (the “Fund”) is not sponsored, promoted, sold or supported in any other manner by ROBO Global Partners Limited or Solactive AG (the “Index Parties”), nor do the Index Parties offer any express or implicit guarantee or assurance either with regard to the results of using the ROBO Global® Robotics and Automation UCITS Index (the “Index”) and/or Index trademark or the Index price at any time or in any other respect. The Index is calculated and published by Solactive AG. The Index Parties use their best efforts to ensure that the Index is calculated correctly. Irrespective of their obligations towards the Company, the Index Parties have no obligation to point out errors in the Index to third parties including but not limited to
investors and/or financial intermediaries of the Fund. Neither publication of the Index by Solactive AG nor the licensing of the Index or Index trademark by ROBO Global Partners Limited for the purpose of use in connection with the Fund constitutes a recommendation by the Index Parties to invest capital in the Fund nor does it in any way represent an assurance or opinion of the Index Parties with regard to any investment in the Fund.
