ROBO vs. BOTZ: How Two Robotics ETFs Differ

Through July 21, ROBO returned 14.5% year-to-date while BOTZ declined 3.9%. Over the prior 12 months ROBO gained 29.6% and BOTZ gained 5.8%.

ROBO tracks the ROBO Global Robotics & Automation Index ETF and follows a modified-equal-weight index across 74 international stocks, producing an effective holding count near 75 and keeping its top 10 positions under about 17%. BOTZ follows a market-cap-weighted index of roughly 61 holdings, with the top 10 holdings representing about 60% of the fund.

The two ETFs share roughly 26% of their holdings, resulting in materially different baskets for investors seeking robotics and automation exposure.

Geographic allocation differs between the funds. ROBO’s weight is 45.5% North America, 31.7% Asia and 22.3% Europe, with country exposure led by the United States at 42.6%, Japan at 19.2% and Germany at 10.2%. BOTZ is heavier in Asia at 53.1%, with Japan at 30.0%, the United States at 32.1% and China at 20.7%.

Market-cap exposure also diverges. BOTZ’s weighted-average market capitalization is about $637 billion. ROBO’s weighted-average market capitalization is about $120 billion and includes a 41.7% allocation to mid-cap stocks.

Top-holding weights illustrate the contrast. ROBO’s largest individual weights are modest, with Rockwell Automation near 1.9% and Illumina around 1.8%. BOTZ’s largest positions include ABB at about 9.66%, Keyence near 9.43% and NVIDIA close to 9.33%.

Risk and cost metrics differ as well. Five-year annualized volatility is about 20.3% for ROBO and 22.7% for BOTZ. BOTZ charges an expense ratio of about 0.68% and ROBO charges about 0.95%.

Index governance and disclosures are published in fund documents. The index provider for the ROBO indexes is VettaFi, which licenses the indexes and receives an index licensing fee; the ROBO ETFs are not issued, sponsored, endorsed or sold by VettaFi. Fund prospectuses list component holdings, weighting rules and fees for investors seeking further detail.