Toronto-based Horizons ETFs Management (Canada) Inc. has launched a technology-focused ETF that invests in sectors contributing to the Fourth Industrial Revolution or “Industry 4.0,” the company announced Tuesday.
The Horizons Industry 4.0 Index ETF began trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange Tuesday, under the ticker symbol FOUR.
FOUR seeks to replicate the performance of the Solactive industry 4.0 index. It provides exposure to companies “advancing Industry 4.0,” which is to say, “the merging of the physical and digital worlds amid the newest phase of industrialization.”
This includes advanced robotics and automation, artificial intelligence (AI), the Internet of Things (a growing network of “smart,” connected devices), cloud computing, big data, cybersecurity, augmented reality, and 3D printing.
“With the continued increase in computer processing power and more and more use of transformative technologies such as AI, I believe we are embarking on one of the most revolutionary periods of technological change — Industry 4.0,” Steve Hawkins, president and CEO of Horizons ETFs, says in a statement.
“From Canada’s first global robotics equity ETF, RBOT, to our blockchain-ecosystem ETF, BKCH, to the world’s first A.I.-driven global equity ETF, MIND, Horizons ETFs is committed to providing investors with a way to invest in the technologies accelerating Industry 4.0 – and now, they can access it all through FOUR,” Hawkins says.
Inclusion in the Solactive industry 4.0 index requires: a listing on a regular stock exchange in one of 23 developed countries, a minimum market cap of US $200 million, and a minimum average daily trade value of US$2 million over one-month and six-month periods prior to and including the selection day.