Investment Company Abrdn Launches New Industrial Metals ETF in U.S.
Abrdn has seen lots of success with its commodity ETFs. The investment company is looking to build on that success with its new brand.
Sept. 27 2021, Published 2:02 p.m. ET
Renewable energy is the future to powering the world, and investors have found ways to invest in these resources. There are many clean energy futures and ETFs that give people a way to invest in water, solar, and wind energy. However, Abrdn offers a different way to invest in these resources, especially with the launch of their new ETF.
Abrdn has many funds that put the spotlight on commodities that help produce renewable energy rather than just focusing on the energies itself. Being one of the largest investment companies in the U.K., Abrdn is expanding its services to the U.S.
What is Abrdn and what does it invest in?
Established in 1983, Abrdn is an investment management company that focuses on investing in energy, metals, grains, and other industrial resources. The Scottish company currently has eight different ETFs that have holdings in precious metals including silver, gold, copper, and platinum. It has holdings in various other commodities including crude oil, natural gas, corn, soybeans, and coffee.
Abdrn emphasizes the future of natural, renewable and sustainable resources, and many of these commodities play a large role in producing those resources.
Originally named Aberdeen Asset Management plc, the investment company merged with Standard Life, a company specializing in life assurance, in August 2017. At the time of the merger, the deal turned the company into Standard Life Aberdeen PLC, and it was valued at £11 billion ($14.3 billion).
In 2018, the company sold its life assurance branch, Standard Life, to Phoenix Group—the largest long-term savings and retirement business in the U.K. The sale was reportedly worth £3.24 billion ($4.51) at the time, and would become one of Phoenix’s largest asset managers.
The two companies would build on their partnership throughout the years. Abrdn publicly announced the sale of Standard Life in February 2021. Along with the public announcement, Standard Life Aberdeen would change its name to ABRDN PLC in July. The investment company claims to manage and administer over £532 ($729) billion of assets for all of their clients, with over £147.4 billion of Phoenix Group assets being managed by Abrdn.
Abrdn’s new ETF details and how you can invest.
On Sept. 27, the investment management company announced the launch of its first-ever U.S. product, the Bloomberg Industrial Metals Strategy K-1 Free ETF. The ETF closely matches the movement of the Bloomberg Industrial Metals Total Return Subindex, which consists of commodity futures contracts of aluminum, copper, nickel, and zinc.
In the announcement, Steve Dunn, head of Abrdn ETFs, mentioned that because renewable energy relies on metals and other commodities, the demand for those commodities will increase.
The Bloomberg Industrial Metals Strategy K-1 Free ETF has over 1 million shares in industrial metal futures, with an AUM of over $25.83 million. Copper futures hold the most weight in the fund at 35.63 percent, according to the company’s most recent report.
The ETF trades under the ticker symbol "BCIM," and should be available on many investment platforms in the U.S. Abrdn said that its ETF franchise manages over $6.9 billion of clientele assets, which is more than double the value it was three years ago. Three of the five precious metals ETFs that it operates have over $1 billion in total value.