Investing in Space Technology – Vontobel releases Index Certificate Tracking the Solactive Space Technology Index
In the middle of the 20th century, the “race to space” was nosed out between nations, and no investors were able to engage commercially in this highly sensitive political affair. Nowadays, space technology offers various ways for investors to invest their money, from satellite technology to space tourism, with the latter currently standing on the verge of a breakthrough. Investment pioneer Vontobel now launched an index certificate that tracks the performance of companies active in space technology. All companies are comprised in a passive and rules-based index, the Solactive Space Technology Index, which utilizes Solactive’s ARTIS® technology to pick the most suitable constituents for the index.
Astronautics and space technology is a billion-dollar market. Growing massively in the past few years, the global space industry generated a revenue of more than USD 518 billion[1] in 2019. Spearheading the development is space tourism, with the first commercial flight transporting only civilians scheduled at Q4 in 2021. Developments in space technology are happening at a fast pace. Individual Investors often cannot keep up with the quick progress, making investing in space a complex endeavor. To aid investors with their space-centric investment, Solactive developed its Solactive Space Technology Index.
The Solactive Space Technology Index
The Solactive Space Technology Index is a representation of companies that have business operations in the space industry. Potential companies must, therefore, provide services deemed to suit the theme of space technology, such as providing and operating satellites, space probes, space launches, space flight and tourism, as well as space stations and space exploration. The selection of the Solactive Space Technology Index’s constituents is based on Solactive’s proprietary Natural Language Processing Engine ARTIS®. ARTIS® utilizes advanced algorithms to parse high volumes of public documents evaluating companies’ exposure to various themes or topics. The sophisticated procedure not only detects potential index constituents considering a firm’s exposure to a theme but also ranks its importance to the very subject or industry. Additionally, the index features an ESG screening evaluated by Bank Vontobel AG.
“To identify companies affiliated in space technologies is a complex endeavor for investors. Utilizing our ARTIS® technology, we were able to detect promising index constituents with a possible stellar performance,” comments Timo Pfeiffer, Chief Markets Officer at Solactive. “We are, at the moment, only at the advent of the human era of leaving our home planet and exploring space. Hence, innovation potential in this fairly new industrial sector is enormous.”
Heiko Geiger, Head Flow Product Distribution at Vontobel, comments: “We are very happy to enable investors to engage in commercial space technology with our new open end tracker certificate on the Solactive Space Technology Index NTR (WKN VQ7BWA) at the right point in the space-time continuum.”
[1] Source: https://de.statista.com/statistik/daten/studie/1055664/umfrage/umsatz-der-weltweiten-raumfahrtindustrie/