Robotics and artificial intelligence continue to drive growth in technology and industrial automation. For investors evaluating thematic ETFs, the ROBO Global Robotics & Automation Index ETF (ROBO) and the Global X Robotics & Artificial Intelligence ETF (BOTZ) offer two distinct methodologies for capturing this opportunity set.
Key Takeaways
- ROBO provides broader exposure across 74 international holdings, while BOTZ uses a market-cap-weighted structure heavily concentrated in the top 10 holdings.
- Year-to-date through July 21, ROBO returned 14.5% compared to -3.9% for BOTZ, driven by divergent geographic and stock-specific allocations.
- BOTZ offers a lower expense ratio of 0.68% compared to ROBO’s 0.95%, but carries higher portfolio concentration risk.
Portfolio Weighting & Concentration Risk
A core distinction between ROBO and BOTZ lies in underlying index construction and holding weighting. ROBO’s underlying index uses a modified-equal-weight strategy that provides access to 80 holdings, resulting in an effective number of holdings of 75. Its top 10 positions account for just 16.89% of the overall fund. Top holdings such as Rockwell Automation (ROK) and Illumina, (ILMN) carry weights of 1.9% and 1.8%, respectively.
Conversely, BOTZ tracks a market-cap-weighted index of 61 holdings, which makes the ETF more top heavy. The top 10 holdings represent 60.1% of BOTZ’s portfolio. Heavyweights like ABB (ABB) (9.66%), Keyence Corporation (9.43%), and NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA) (9.33%) heavily influence the ETF’s performance.
The two funds share an overlap of just 26%, meaning advisors choosing between them are buying vastly different risk profiles.
Geographic & Market Cap Allocations
Geographic distribution introduces another layer of differences between the two ETFs. ROBO maintains a primary allocation to North America at 45.5%, followed by Asia at 31.7% and Europe at 22.3%. Looking at individual countries, the U.S. makes up 42.6% of ROBO, with Japan following at 19.2% and Germany at 10.2%.
BOTZ shifts exposure toward Asia, which accounts for 53.1% of its weight. Japan leads country allocations in BOTZ at 30.0%, followed by the U.S. at 32.1% and China at 20.7%.
Market capitalization also highlights diverging exposures. BOTZ leans heavily into mega-cap and large-cap technology, with a weighted-average market cap of $637 billion. ROBO spreads risk more evenly down the market-cap spectrum, with a weighted average market cap of $120 billion and a 41.7% allocation to mid-cap equities.
Return Dynamics and Volatility
Performance divergence between the two strategies has been significant in 2026. Year-to-date through July 21, ROBO has posted a 14.5% return, whereas BOTZ has dropped 3.9%. Over a one-year period, ROBO gained 29.6% against BOTZ’s 5.8% gain.
ROBO has also exhibited lower historical volatility. Over the last five years, ROBO recorded an annualized volatility of 20.3%, compared to 22.7% for BOTZ.
While BOTZ features a lower expense ratio of 0.68% versus ROBO’s 0.95%, investors must weigh cost against concentration risk, geographic exposure, and underlying index methodology when selecting the appropriate allocation for robotics exposure.
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vettafi.com is owned by VettaFi LLC (“VettaFi”). VettaFi is the index provider for the ROBO ETFs, for which it receives an index licensing fee. However, the ROBO ETFs are not issued, sponsored, endorsed, or sold by VettaFi. VettaFi and its affiliates have no obligation or liability in connection with the issuance, administration, marketing, or trading of the ROBO ETFs
