As Founder and Publisher of DRONELIFE I am often asked about investing in drones. I understand and appreciate the enthusiasm associated with this question. And as you might guess, I share this enthusiasm. In a piece I wrote over a year ago, Drones – It feels like 1983, I compared the current drone environment to the introduction of the personal computer. We all know how that played out. Five of the largest twenty corporations today (as defined by market-cap) emerged from the birth of that industry. So if you believe that the drone industry represents a similar investing opportunity, what’s the best approach from a “stock picking” standpoint?
On December 18th of last year, MarketWatch reported on the filing of an exchange traded fund (ETF) that, according to the filing, will include companies that are “involved in developing, researching, or utilizing drone-related technology and services.”
An ETF, Exchange Trade Fund, is a marketable security that tracks an index or a basket of assets. Unlike a mutual fund, the ETF trades like common stock and experiences price changes throughout the day. The index is created using a diversified portfolio that tracks a particular commodity. In this case, the commodity is the drone ecosystem. Purefunds, an innovator in providing ETFs (e.g. “HACK,” an ETF focused on companies in the cyber-security industry) is putting the fund together.
When the PureFunds’ Drone Technology ETF is introduced, an investor will have the opportunity to hold a single financial instrument with a broad and diversified portfolio of stocks in the drone marketplace. There is no need or concern to manage individual drone stocks. The ETF represents a great solution for investors who believe that drones are the next big thing but don’t have the time or interest in identifying and tracking specific drone companies.
DRONELIFE is a member of a syndicate bringing the ETF to market, serving as an Industry Expert Advisor. We are pleased to partner with ETF industry leaders and will actively promote the product and the associated index.
Alan is serial entrepreneur, active angel investor, and a drone enthusiast. He co-founded DRONELIFE.com to address the emerging commercial market for drones and drone technology. Prior to DRONELIFE.com, Alan co-founded Where.com, ThinkingScreen Media, and Nurse.com. Recently, Alan has co-founded Crowditz.com, a leader in Equity Crowdfunding Data, Analytics, and Insights. Alan can be reached at alan(at)dronelife.com
Ed – The ETF has yet to be released. When this happens, we will write about it on DRONELIFE. Thanks for your question.
When will the etc be released?
I cannot find a/the drone etf. can you give me the symbol please
same question .. would be very interesting to know more info and symbol
Thanks for sharing your wonderful blog!