First Trust Advisors announced the First Trust Indxx Critical Metals ETF (NYSE:FMTL) as its 300th ETF, which will focus on capturing growing investor demand for companies providing the metals that keep solar panels, electric vehicles and smartphones running.
This move comes as the world scrambles to secure raw materials fueling the clean energy boom.
• Review the technical setup for FMTL here.
The new fund comes amid a revived focus on critical metals such as lithium, cobalt and rare earth elements — commodities now considered as crucial to modern economies as oil once was. These materials lie at the heart of clean energy and advanced manufacturing supply chains, both of which have been under increasing strain from geopolitical and logistical challenges.
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First Trust said the ETF is designed to track the Indxx Global Critical Metals Index, which identifies companies generating significant revenue from the mining or processing of those key materials. The benchmark includes developed and emerging market firms outside of Vietnam that are part of the Minerals Security Partnership, a coalition focused on securing reliable mineral supply chains.
The index has been designed to segment eligible companies into three broad themes reflective of their role in global industry: firms supplying sustainable energy metals used in projects including solar and wind power; those involved with next-generation mobility metals that are crucial for the manufacture of electric vehicle batteries; and producers of other metals necessary for high-technology industries, such as semiconductors, consumer electronics and LED lighting.
Together, these segments capture the backbone of the materials economy, driving both the clean energy transition and the digital revolution.
The launch comes at a moment when areas beyond the obvious clean energy plays are also gaining prominence, such as solar and wind ETFs, and toward the supply chain enablers behind them. By offering targeted exposure to metals producers and refiners, FMTL could serve as a backdoor play on the green transition and the tech hardware boom alike.
Executives at Indxx, the index provider, say that the partnership reflects the global pivot towards securing materials needed for the next wave of industrial and technological growth.
As countries double down on resource independence and investors chase the next structural growth theme, First Trust's new fund positions itself squarely at the intersection of energy security, electrification and innovation — a vein that's getting harder to ignore.
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