Thematic fund
A fund that invests in companies aligned with a specific theme — clean energy, AI, robotics, healthcare innovation. Higher concentration and higher single-sector volatility than a broad-diversified equity fund.
A thematic fund invests in companies aligned with a specific theme rather than a broad market index. Common themes in NZ-available products: clean energy, artificial intelligence, robotics and automation, healthcare innovation, water and resource scarcity, cybersecurity, and ageing demographics.
Thematic funds are typically structured as offshore index or smart-beta wrappers — for example, a clean-energy or AI ETF domiciled in Ireland or the US, accessed through a NZ wrapper or directly via a broking platform. Because thematic exposure concentrates on a small slice of the global equity universe, single-sector volatility is high and the FMA risk indicator usually lands at band 6 or 7.
NZ retail PIE schemes offering thematic funds disclose the underlying index and the rules-based construction in the PDS. Active thematic funds are rarer in NZ retail and disclose the manager's discretion in stock selection within the theme.
Related terms
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index-vs-active
Index fund vs active fund
An index fund mechanically tracks a published market index. An active fund's manager makes discretionary buy/sell decisions trying to beat or differ from a benchmark.
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concentrated-portfolio
Concentrated portfolio
An active strategy that holds a small number of positions (typically 15–30 stocks) with high conviction in each. Higher idiosyncratic risk than a broad-diversified portfolio, higher tracking error against any benchmark.
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FMA risk indicator
Risk indicator (1–7 scale)
A standardised 1–7 risk score every NZ retail managed fund must publish, calculated from the fund's price volatility (standard deviation of weekly returns) over the past five years.