Join the trendsetters

What do investments known as HACK, ROBO, ACDC, ERTH, CRYP, FANG, DRUG and SEMI all have in common? They are all thematic exchange traded funds (ETFs) listed on the ASX and, although they have long, formal names, investors commonly refer to them as their snappy ASX ticker codes.

Thematic ETFs have grown by 400% over the past year. They cover various investment niches and include some that have performed well recently. Some have done well in the pandemic, delivering eye-watering results such as the ETFs Battery Tech and Lithium ETF, which returned 20.6% for the year to December 20, 2021, and 31.9%pa over the past three years; the ETFS FANG, which returned 20.7% over one year; and BetaShares S&P/ASX Australian Technology ETF, which delivered 16.5% over the year to November 30.

There are 20 thematic funds out of the 277 ETFs