Thematic ETFs are rarely good deals. Too concentrated, too late, too expensive... they attract a lot of criticism, as we have already explained here. However, we should not generalize too much: some of these ETFs do the job.

One example is the VanEck Uranium and Nuclear Technologies UCITS ETF, a tracker launched in February 2024 by the US issuer. I must admit that VanEck's press office did my work for me this morning: it sent out a press release announcing that the ETF"s assets under management had exceeded $1bn. This comes three months after sending out a press release announcing that it had surpassed $500m in assets under management. Such a dynamic rise is extremely rare, especially for thematic ETFs. It usually happens when the bets are obvious, consensual, or both. Bitcoin and defense ETFs are good examples of this.

Nuclear power is on the rise, thanks to AI

Returning to today's VanEck, the objective is obviously to gain exposure to nuclear power, a theme that has come back into vogue with the colossal needs of data centers for AI. We wrote a summary report on the subject last year (already mentioning VanEck). We recently supplemented it with an addendum. The nuclear ETF has risen 45% since the beginning of the year (including the dollar's decline). It is relatively expensive in terms of fees (0.55%), but can afford to be because it fills an unmet need: there are not many ways to gain direct exposure to listed nuclear companies.

☢ Strong performance for the ETF ☢

In this case, VanEck has mainly selected energy and industrial groups. The largest capitalization is Canadian fuel specialist Cameco, followed by its American counterpart Oklo and energy company Nexgen. Fuji Electric, Uranium Energy, NuScale, Jacobs Solutions, IHI Corp, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, and Atkinsrealis round out the top 10. The United States, Canada, and Japan are the three most represented countries, accounting for 87% of the ETF. There is only one European representative on the list, the British company Yellow Cake. France once had the largest pure player in the nuclear industry, Areva. However, the company's disastrous management and projects led to its delisting and split. A small portion of its assets went to EDF, and the rest was restructured and renamed Orano.