Tema's New VOLT ETF Sparked by AI Revolution

A relative newcomer to the ETF space, New York-based asset manager Tema aims to ride the digitization and artificial intelligence revolution by focusing on all the energy it will take to fuel the category.

The Tema Electrification ETF (VOLT) is an actively managed strategy that began trading Wednesday, representing the firm's sixth ETF since entering the business 18 months ago.

Tema Founder and Chief Executive Maurits Pot described VOLT as the “first electrification ETF in the world,” and said the “next derivative of AI and digitization is the power to power the innovation.”

Similar to the old gold rush stories about the sellers of picks and shovels making all the money, VOLT will invest in the global infrastructure that will ramp up in stride with growing demand for electricity.

“Electricity hasn’t grown much in the past 10 to 15 years as manufacturing has dropped and demand has been replaced at the margins,” Pot said. “But now we’re seeing stepped up demand, and that demand is coming from AI, data, mobility, and a manufacturing boom.”

Riding the AI Revolution

Pot said the aging U.S. electric infrastructure will benefit from $5-to-$7 trillion worth of upgrades and expansion over the next five years.

VOLT, which is managed by Chris Semenuk, will invest in everything from nuclear and solar energy to conventional energy generation, installation, transmission, and distribution.

“The existing grid is underinvested in and there needs to be a refurbishing cycle,” Pot said. “And we need to expand capacity.”

Semenuk has already proven his ability to shine through the Tema American Reshoring ETF (RSHO), which was launched 18 months ago and has since outperformed both the S&P 500 and S&P 400 indexes without owning any technology stocks.

At $150 million, RSHO is the flagship of the fledgling ETF issuer with a gain of nearly 30% since the start of the year.

Keeping with the theme of targeted active strategies, Tema has three more ETFs on the drawing board, two of which focus on alternatives and one focused on endowments.