Today’s U.S.-listed launch of a thematic Augmented and Virtual Reality ETF builds on BlueStar’s success in Israel; sees BlueStar’s index family growing to 17 to include a wide range of global thematic indexes.

BlueStar Indexes®, a research-driven provider of financial indexes, is proud to announce the launch of the first U.S.-listed ETF to track the BlueStar Augmented and Virtual Reality Index, the Defiance Future Tech ETF.

This launch highlights the substantial expansion of BlueStar’s index family and the assets tracking its indexes. In the rapidly-growing area of thematic technology indexes, BlueStar now calculates eight benchmarks for investment products, building on the nine Israel-focused indexes already produced by BlueStar. More than $350 million now tracks BlueStar Indexes worldwide.

The BlueStar Augmented and Virtual Reality Index (BAUGR), is global in scope and includes approximately 60 stocks across all market capitalizations. Current country allocations include the United States, Japan, France and Korea. The index is equally-weighted, and includes smaller companies with higher growth potential. The Defiance Future Tech ETF (NYSE: AUGR) tracking BAUGR is designed for investors seeking to capitalize on the growing opportunities in augmented reality and virtual reality (AR/VR) technology, a disruptive tech category that is already having a meaningful impact on a wide range of industries.

“This expansion into thematic tech indexes, particularly the exciting world of augmented and virtual reality, speaks volumes about BlueStar’s commitment to providing quality, relevant, and cutting-edge indexes throughout the world,” said Steven Schoenfeld, Founder and Chief Investment Officer of Bluestar Indexes. “With BAUGR, our Augmented and Virtual Reality index, we’re thrilled to have played a part in the launch of AUGR, the Defiance Future Tech ETF, and look forward to continuing to provide our indexes to the ETF industry—both in the U.S. and abroad—in the years to come.”

Growth in Flagship Israel Benchmark assets

The assets tracking BlueStar’s flagship Israel equity benchmark—the BlueStar Israel Global Index® (BIGI®) and the BlueStar Israel Global Technology Index™ (BIGITech®)—have grown to approximately $100 million in the US and $65 million in Israeli-registered products.

In addition to its two flagship benchmarks, BlueStar maintains six additional Israel equity indexes. These include the BlueStar Israel Global Total Investable Market index (BIGI®-TIM); two “Strategic Beta” variants of BIGI®: the BlueStar Israel Global Strategic Value Index (BIGI®-SD) and the BlueStar Israel Global Strategic Dividend Index (BIGI®-SD), two Israel Economic Exposure Indexes; and a hedged version of BIGITech®. Additionally, BlueStar’s Israel Government USD Bond Index provides coverage of Israeli government bonds priced in U.S. Dollars.

BlueStar’s Expanded Global Thematic Index Family

With today’s launch by Defiance ETFs, three investment firms now license BlueStar Global Thematic Indexes: in Israel, Migdal Capital Markets and KSM/Excellence are also BlueStar licensees. BlueStar’s growing global thematic index family includes the BlueStar Fintech Index, the BlueStar Robotics Index, the BlueStar Artificial Intelligence Index, the BlueStar Autonomous Driving Index, the BlueStar Internet of Things Index, the BlueStar Blockchain Technology Index, and the BlueStar Quantum Computing and Machine Learning index. Approximately $190 million in assets track BlueStar’s Global Thematic Indexes.

“We’re excited about what today’s launch of AUGR—benchmarked to the BlueStar Augmented and Virtual Reality Index —has to say about the future of our index family moving forward,” Schoenfeld continued. “With our comprehensive family of thematic technology indexes, we’re confident we’ll be able to provide significant value to the ETF industry in the years to come.”