Looking for a way to increase your portfolio’s exposure to AI investing without adding exposure to firms already in your portfolio? Many investors already hold names like Nvidia (NVDA) and Microsoft (MSFT) in their equity allocations. Indeed, those firms are among the so-called “Magnificent Seven” that made an outsized contribution to portfolios in 2024. While uncertainty for names like NVDA and tech overall does loom, AI remains a key driver of growth. An ETF like ROBO can provide exposure to that innovation at a remove from those other tech firms.
See more: Supervisory Control as a Pathway to Smarter Robots
The ROBO Global Robotics & Automation Index ETF (ROBO ) launched in 2013. The fund tracks a global index of firms operating in robotics and automation. Using both qualitative and quantitative research, ROBO screens a universe of 1,000 firms deriving revenue from related sectors. That includes firms explicitly developing artificial intelligence, but also those working on robotics and navigation systems.
Exposure to those firms, then, can provide a degree of AI investing exposure on its own. Charging 95 basis points, ROBO looks for market and tech leaders, ending up with between 65-200 total stocks. That approach has helped the strategy return 6.36% YTD and 6.92% over one year. That performance saw the strategy beat both its ETF Database Category and FactSet Segment averages over one year.
What role, then, could a fund like ROBO play for the rest of 2025? By investing in firms like Rockwell Automation (ROK), it provides exposure to AI investing-related technologies. ROK focuses on industrial operation software, an area certainly able to benefit from advances in artificial intelligence. For those investors looking for continued AI exposure without doubling or tripling up on Mag Seven names, ROBO may provide a strong option.
For more news, information, and analysis, visit our Disruptive Technology Channel.
VettaFi LLC (“VettaFi”) is the index provider for ROBO, for which it receives an index licensing fee. However, ROBO is not issued, sponsored, endorsed, or sold by VettaFi, and VettaFi has no obligation or liability in connection with the issuance, administration, marketing, or trading of ROBO.
