Europe
The Global X Team is pleased to release the September 2026 edition of the UCITS Thematic ETF Commentary. This commentary recaps Global X’s classification system for disruptive themes and the thematic ETFs that aim to track them. It also provides industry-level insights of thematic investing ETFs, looking at new launches and closures, changes in assets under management (AUM), and fund flows.
Click here to download the UCITS Thematic ETF Commentary September 2026.
September saw a slight fall in UCITS thematic ETFs, with market movements more than offsetting net inflows during the month.² At the end of September 2026, UCITS thematic ETFs represented 2.50% of the UCITS ETF industry’s $3.64 trillion total AUM, a slight increase from the 2.49% level at the end of August 2026.³
UCITS Thematic ETF AUM decreased slightly to $91.1 billion this month, down 0.6% from August’s AUM of $91.67 billion.⁴ In comparison, AUM in the broader UCITS ETF industry fell 1.0% month-over-month (MoM).⁵
AUM for UCITS Thematic ETFs saw an overall decrease of $596 million, with net inflows of $1.36 billion.⁶ Market performance resulted in a $1.95 billion decrease in AUM.⁷
On a year-over-year basis, UCITS Thematic ETF AUM increased +38.6% from $65.7 billion at the end of September 2025.⁸
There are currently 206 UCITS thematic ETFs, with 5 listings and no delistings in September.⁹
The Broad Thematic category saw an increase in AUM of $247.4 million.¹⁰ This was followed by the Disruptive Technology category, which saw a $232.8 million increase in AUM.¹¹ The Disruptive Technology category saw net inflows of $1.09 billion followed by Broad Thematic which saw inflows of $187.7 million.¹²
At the Mega-Theme level, Big Data saw the largest inflows in September, with +$799.4 million, followed by Infrastructure Development with +$277.9 million, Health +$224.0 million and Robotics +$180.3 million.¹³
Big Data’s leadership was driven by Cybersecurity, which gathered $569.4 million in flows.¹⁴ This continued the strong momentum in flows from August, with concerns around AI safety from frontier model providers, as well as the broader adoption of agentic AI driving awareness of the theme.¹⁵,¹⁶ Robotics inflows of $180.3 million aligned with ongoing investment in physical AI, as well as the International Federation of Robotics report that highlighted the continued growth and adoption of robotics worldwide.¹⁷,¹⁸
People & Demographics inflows were concentrated in Health, which gathered $224.0 million.¹⁹ Merck and Moderna’s break-through Phase 3 results for personalised cancer therapy in August drove greater awareness and positive sentiment across the theme,²⁰ whilst the pharmaceutical “patent cliff” continues to drive urgency around R&D and the acquisition pipeline.²¹
Physical Environment flows were led by Infrastructure Development (+$277.9 million).²² U.S. manufacturing PMI remained in expansion territory, registering 55.9 in September, with production and new orders both increasing on the back of domestic demand.²³ During the month, the U.S. Senate also proposed the Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act (BAAJA), which aims to ease bottlenecks around the development of both clean and traditional energy sources.²⁴ Continued positive indicators and policy initiatives could provide a robust platform for the theme going forward.
At the thematic level, Cybersecurity (+$987.1 million) exhibited the largest increase in AUM, followed by Machine/Deep Learning (+$819.3 million), and Healthcare Innovation (+$307.7 million).²⁵ Conversely, Resource Scarcity (-$565.5 million) and Clean & Renewable Energy (-$439.4 million) recorded the largest falls in AUM in August.²⁶
In an uncharted era of new technologies disrupting existing paradigms, demographics reshaping the needs of the world’s population, shifting consumer behaviours forcing changes to existing business models, and dramatic changes in our physical environment, there appears to be a growing need for a consistent framework to track these themes and the investment vehicles providing access to them.
Global X insights do not take into account a person’s own financial position or circumstances of any person or entity in any region or jurisdiction. This information should not be relied upon as a primary basis for any investment decision. Its applicability will depend on the particular circumstances of each investor. There is no guarantee that any trends observed in this material will continue. Any views and opinions are based on current market conditions and are subject to change. This information is not intended to be, or does not constitute, investment research.
This document is not intended to be, or does not constitute, investment research as defined by the Financial Conduct Authority.