The VanEck [profile] team is expanding their thematic fund lineup with another index fund.

On Thursday, Michael Cohick, director of product management, and Thomas Kettner, chief operating officer of VanEck's MarketVector Indexes unit, unveiled the launch of the VanEck Robotics ETF (IBOT on the Nasdaq). The new fund is a series of the VanEck ETF Trust.

IBOT's inception date was April 5, and it comes with an expense ratio of 47 basis points. As of yesterday, the new fund had $1.7 million in AUM.

Van Eck Associates Corporation serves as IBOT's administrator and investment advisor, and Van Eck Securities Corporation serves as the fund's distributor. Peter Liao, head of equity ETF portfolio management, serves as the new fund's PM. The fund is designed to track the BlueStar Robotics Index, and MarketVector Indexes serves as index provider.

Cohick puts the launch of IBOT in the context of robotics' "twin tailwainds of increasing demand and declining costs."

"The global marketplace for these machines is expected to double in just the next five years," Cohick states. "For investors looking to participate in this growing trend, a global approach is key, as is ensuring exposure across themain sub-sectors of the robotics industry, given the range of use cases and the pace of innovation that are emerging across so many sectors of the global economy."

IBOT's other service providers include: Dechert as counsel; PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP as independent accountant; and State Street Bank and Trust Company as custodian, fund accountant, securities lending agent, and transfer agent. 

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