Capital at risk. The value of investments and the income from them can fall as well as rise and are not guaranteed. Investors may not get back the amount originally invested.
Invest in long-term trends with thematic ETFs
Explore ETFs that give you access to the trends shaping how we live, work and invest.
Why iShares for thematic ETFs?
Research-driven investment themes
Our thematic ETFs are built on BlackRock's megaforces framework, helping investors access long-term structural trends shaping economies and markets.
Europe’s largest thematic ETF platform by AUM1
With approximately US$21 billion in thematic ETF assets under management¹, iShares offers Europe's largest thematic ETF platform, providing access to a broad range of long-term investment themes.
Active and index solutions
Access both actively managed and index-based thematic ETFs, allowing different implementation approaches across long-term investment themes.
What is thematic investing?
Thematic investing means investing in long-term trends rather than individual companies or sectors. It helps you focus on how the world is changing and what that could mean for your investments over time.
BlackRock's thematic investing philosophy focuses on five megaforces that are reshaping the world: demographic divergence, digital disruption and AI, a fragmenting world, the future of finance, and the energy transition to a low-carbon economy. These long-term structural changes are creating new opportunities and risks across economies, industries and markets.
iShares offers a broad range of strategies designed to help investors access long-term structural trends and build diversified thematic allocations over time.
Explore thematic ETFs
Build your portfolio with ETFs focused on long-term trends.
Technology shaping the future
AI and digital innovation are helping businesses improve productivity and create new products and services.
Shifting supply chains and priorities
Global changes are leading countries and companies to rethink how they produce, trade and invest.
Investing in cleaner energy
The shift to a low-carbon economy is reshaping energy systems and industries, creating new investment opportunities as economies transition over time.
How populations shape markets
Aging populations and growing middle classes in selected emerging market economies influence demand, growth and opportunities.
How investing is evolving
New technologies and platforms are changing how people access financial services and invest.
Explore thematic mutual funds
Looking for thematic strategies beyond ETFs? Explore BlackRock's range of thematic mutual funds, designed to access long-term structural trends through active portfolio management.
Frequently asked questions
Thematic ETFs can help investors gain targeted exposure to long-term structural trends that may not be fully reflected in traditional sector or regional allocations. They can be used alongside core portfolio holdings to express strategic investment views on specific themes.
Thematic ETFs seek exposure to companies that may benefit from transformative changes reshaping economies, industries and consumer behaviour. Rather than focusing on a single sector, thematic strategies can invest across multiple industries and geographies connected to a common theme, helping investors capture opportunities arising from structural trends over time.
Sector ETFs typically provide exposure to companies within a specific industry classification, such as technology or healthcare. Thematic ETFs, by contrast, seek to capture a broader investment opportunity linked to a structural trend. As a result, a thematic ETF may include companies from multiple sectors that are connected to the same long-term theme.
AI-focused ETFs can help investors gain exposure to companies benefiting from advances in artificial intelligence and digital disruption. These strategies may include businesses involved in AI development, semiconductor technology, digital infrastructure and other areas supporting the adoption of next-generation technologies. Investors may use AI ETFs to express a long-term view on productivity, innovation and technological transformation.
Many thematic strategies are built around structural changes expected to play out over years or decades. As a result, professional investors may use thematic ETFs as part of a strategic allocation designed to capture long-term investment opportunities associated with major economic, technological and societal shifts. The suitability of any investment depends on an investor's objectives, risk tolerance and portfolio requirements.
Thematic ETFs can provide an efficient way to access long-term investment themes through a single vehicle. For wealth managers and financial advisers, these strategies can help align portfolio allocations with identifiable trends while supporting client conversations around future growth opportunities and portfolio diversification.
When assessing thematic ETFs, investors may consider:
- The strength and durability of the underlying theme
- Whether the strategy is actively managed or index-tracking
- Portfolio construction methodology
- Concentration and diversification characteristics
- The role of the allocation within the broader portfolio
- Potential risks associated with the theme and market environment
As with all investments, capital is at risk and investors may not get back the amount originally invested.
Index-based thematic ETFs typically seek to replicate the performance of a rules-based index linked to a specific theme. Active thematic ETFs allow portfolio managers greater discretion in security selection and portfolio construction, potentially adapting to evolving opportunities and risks within a theme. The iShares thematic range includes both approaches.
Thematic ETFs can help advisers and investment professionals connect portfolio allocations to long-term economic and societal developments that clients recognise and understand, such as artificial intelligence, demographic change, energy transition and financial innovation.