According to a forecast of the United Nations, more than 68% of the world’s population will live in urban areas by 2050, and smart technology can help to tackle the challenges emerging from this trend of rapid urbanization. Recognizing this development, Europe’s largest asset manager, Amundi, licensed the Solactive Smart City Index to serve as the underlying of Amundi Smart City UCITS ETF.

Solactive’s Smart City Index currently provides exposure to over 200 companies engaged in multiple themes that are directly related to the development of smart cities. The index classifies its constituents into the following six key categories: Public Infrastructure, Technology, Healthcare, Smart Homes, e-Commerce, and Entertainment. All of the six index categories – as well as each index component within its respective index category – are equally weighted. Solactive adjusts the composition of the index quarterly.

The rise of innovative and disruptive technology paved the way for the next paradigm shift in manufacturing: smart factories. The Solactive Smart Factory Index is designed to enable investors access to companies engaged in the development of smart factories. Amundi licensed this index as an underlying for its Amundi Smart Factory UCITS ETF. As of today, the index includes more than 250 companies categorized into the following five key themes: Advanced Robotics, Cloud Computing & Big Data, Internet of Things, Cyber Security, and Augmented Reality & 3D printing. Similar to the Solactive Smart City Index, all of the five index categories – as well as each index component within its respective index category – are equally weighted in the Solactive Smart Factory Index.

“Living many years in Frankfurt, I’ve been witnessing the city’s growth and development, but the next smart evolution will eclipse any change it has ever undergone,” says Timo Pfeiffer, Head of Research at Solactive. “With the same excitement, I look forward to experiencing the disruptive potential arising from smart devices in the context of smart factories, which have the capability to reshape the way we think of efficient production and manufacturing. We’re very pleased that Amundi chose Solactive as its index provider for two ETF releases pivoting around such vital and substantial themes.”

Both the Amundi Smart City UCITS ETF and the Amundi Smart Factory UCITS ETF started trading on October 15, 2019, at Euronext Amsterdam and Paris.