Recent years have seen a surge of thematic investments popularity. These strategies  allocate assets into stocks or other investments based on specific business sectors or themes, intending to  benefit from the materialization of trends, technological innovation, and advancements. Emerging  technologies, for example, are increasingly becoming part of our daily lives, and, therefore, the demand for  disruptive materials, such as metals, minerals and other elements, grow. Within this context, Solactive is  pleased to announce that Global X ETFs launches today the Global X Disruptive Materials ETF (DMAT) tracking  the Solactive Disruptive Materials Index. The selection of the companies utilizes Solactive’s proprietary  Natural Language Processing Engine ARTIS®. 

The product allows investors to diversify their portfolio in the thematic space as well as to be indirectly  exposed to the commodities sector through companies that have business operations in the field of disruptive  materials exploration, mining, production and refining. The ten disruptive materials categories are classified  as carbon fiber & carbon materials, cobalt, copper, graphene & graphite, lithium, manganese, nickel, palladium  & platinum, rare earth elements, and zinc. 

To be considered for inclusion in the index, companies must be involved in the following activities: 

i. Exploration and mining: Companies engaged in the mining of disruptive materials and providing  related services, including exploration and mineral extraction projects.  

ii. Production of disruptive materials: Companies active in the manufacturing, processing and trading  of disruptive materials for primary usage and directly related products. 

iii. Enhancements of disruptive materials: Companies that are refining, developing and smelting  materials to extract and purify disruptive materials. 

Solactive’s proprietary Natural Language Processing Engine ARTIS® is utilizing advanced algorithms to parse  high volumes of public documents evaluating companies’ exposure to the segments described above. Using  keywords that describe the ten different disruptive materials categories, ARTIS® identifies companies that  have or are expected to have significant exposure to the provision of products and/or services that contribute  to each disruptive material category.