BlackRock launched an actively managed robotics exchange-traded fund on 21 October with a 0.65% expense ratio, adding a dedicated vehicle to its US AI fund lineup, according to its New York announcement distributed by Business Wire. The iShares Future Robotics and Related Technologies Active ETF, known by its ticker RBTX, is listed on NYSE Arca. Investors in the fund gain exposure to companies involved in developing and using robotics, rather than to a fund designed to copy a robotics index.
Key points
- RBTX charges a 0.65% expense ratio and uses MSCI ACWI Net as its performance benchmark.
- The fund had $10,175,079 in net assets and 400,000 shares as of 21 October. It had 38 holdings as of 20 October.
- Tony Kim and Reid Menge manage RBTX within BlackRock’s Fundamental Equities Technology Team.
- The fund joins an iShares AI lineup that includes BAI, which BlackRock said had more than $14 billion in assets as of 15 October.
RBTX starts with 38 holdings
RBTX had $10,175,079 in net assets and 400,000 shares on 21 October, while its 38 holdings were recorded on 20 October, EconoTimes reported, citing the iShares fund page. The fund’s inception date was 20 October. Those holdings put money behind the new strategy at launch, while the asset figure describes a fund much smaller than BlackRock’s established AI vehicle.
A summary published by Global Banking & Finance dates the RBTX launch to 20 October. BlackRock’s announcement is dated 21 October, and EconoTimes reported that BlackRock announced the fund on that date.
BlackRock says RBTX seeks total return from businesses throughout the robotics value chain. Its proposed investments range from companies that build or supply intelligent machines to those that put them to work automating physical tasks. The firm named MSCI ACWI Net as a benchmark for measuring performance. The fund is actively managed, rather than constructed to replicate that benchmark.
Kim and Menge oversee BlackRock’s robotics strategy
Tony Kim and Reid Menge of BlackRock’s Fundamental Equities Technology Team manage the fund. BlackRock says the team oversees more than $50 billion across AI and technology strategies. That figure covers the team’s wider work, not assets in RBTX. Kim, the team’s head, described robotics as “a significant next phase of AI adoption” in the launch announcement.
BlackRock identified manufacturing, transportation and logistics as industries where it expects intelligent machines to take on more physical tasks. Its stated investment remit also reaches companies that service or enable automation, giving the managers a choice of suppliers and users rather than limiting the portfolio to robot manufacturers. The breadth of that remit makes the managers’ selection and weighting of companies central to the fund’s results.
The existing iShares A.I. Innovation and Tech Active ETF, or BAI, launched in October 2024 and had more than $14 billion in assets as of 15 October, according to BlackRock. Its US AI lineup also includes the iShares Future AI & Tech ETF, iShares Future AI Beneficiaries ETF and iShares Semiconductor ETF. BlackRock describes those three as index funds covering different parts of the AI market, while BAI and RBTX are active strategies.
Six AI-linked ETFs entered the market
At least six AI-linked ETFs made their debut in the month before 21 October, Reuters reported. The launches included a Global X fund focused on companies developing large language models and a Defiance fund targeting bonds issued by AI infrastructure companies. Cboe also listed a separate humanoid robotics ETF on 16 October, EconoTimes reported.
Jay Jacobs, BlackRock’s US head of equity ETFs, said recent volatility had not changed the firm’s conviction about AI investing, Reuters reported. He said adoption could proceed unevenly and that market risk remained concentrated among a relatively narrow set of companies. BlackRock also cautioned that a fund focused on one industry could be more volatile or perform worse than the broader securities market.
