Rize ETF has expanded its range with the launch of a thematic ETF focused on the transition to digital and crypto payments economy.
The Rize Digital Payments Economy UCITS ETF (PMNT) is listed on the London Stock Exchange, Deutsche Boerse, Borsa Italiana and SIX Swiss Exchange with a total expense ratio of 0.45%.
PMNT tracks the Foxberry Euromonitor Digital Payments Economy USD Net Total Return index which offers exposure to 61 companies targeting innovators in the payments economy that are driving non-cash momentum including cryptocurrency pioneers, as well as those that are merging with technologies such as wearables, biometrics and blockchain.
Top holdings that are exposed to the digital asset sector include Twitter founder Jack Dorsey’s Square (2.6%) as well as crypto platforms Coinbase Global (3.5%) and Voyager Digital (2.5%).
PMNT also holds blue chip payment companies including Mastercard, Visa and American Express at 2.2% each, as well as PayPal (2%), which rolled out its cryptocurrency service in the UK in August.
The index, built in partnership with specialist Euromonitor International, will rebalance semi-annually.
Rahul Bhushan (pictured), co-founder and director at Rize ETF, told ETF Stream the firm has been tracking the fintech growth story, particularly regarding payments companies, from its early existence to challenging traditional banks in all areas of finance.
“When we looked into fintech, we realised it is the companies that have created the digital payments economy that are going to drive much more innovation in digital finance,” he said.
“Importantly, we also believe that today’s institutional strangleholds on not just payments but also other banking services such as credit, savings, investments, insurance will be unravelled in the next decade.”
Stuart Forbes, co-founder and director at Rize ETF, added: “Our fund captures the incredible disruption we are seeing today in the banking sector.
“The demand for ‘anytime, anywhere’ payments today is fuelling unprecedented growth in digital payments, digital wallets and digital currencies. For investors, we believe this presents an unprecedented opportunity to get in on the ground floor and ride this disruptive elevator to the top.”
It is the latest ETF the firm has launched since the Rize Environmental Impact 100 UCITS ETF (LIFE) came to market in July and takes its total range to six.
Following investment from Martin Gilbert’s AssetCo in July, the range has hit $500m assets under management (AUM) since entering the European market in 2020.
The other four ETFs are:
