Global X Management Company has launched the Global X Small Modular Reactor ETF (SMRZ), an actively managed fund focused on about 15 global companies involved in the design, construction and fueling of small modular reactors. The announcement came on October 15 from New York. The Cboe BZX exchange had approved the listing the day before.
The fund invests in SMR developers and in the suppliers of components, fuel and technology that support them. The stated objective in the prospectus filed with the SEC is capital growth. Global X, part of South Korea’s Mirae Asset group, manages more than 115 ETFs and over $90 billion in assets, and with SMRZ it adds a product dedicated exclusively to this segment.
The launch is driven by a shift in the regulatory landscape in the United States. According to Pedro Palandrani, head of product research at Global X, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission this year approved construction of the first US commercial SMR. Palandrani ties demand to artificial intelligence, but sees it as only part of the picture: the grid needs reliable power, available day and night and generated domestically.
The figures cited in the press release come from the International Energy Agency. In the most conservative scenario, nuclear investment rises from $65 billion to $70 billion a year, while global capacity grows by more than 50% to nearly 650 gigawatts by 2050. In the central scenario, investment reaches $120 billion in 2030 and capacity more than doubles by mid-century. With stronger government support, SMRs could exceed 1,000 units worldwide, totaling about 120 GW. Annual investment in the segment, currently around $5 billion, would grow markedly.
Global X’s analysis of the fund starts from electricity demand: in the United States it is expected to rise 49% by 2050, and new dispatchable sources would cover only 42% of the growth projected through 2030. SMRs, the company writes, can make the construction and siting of new capacity more flexible.
For readers, the news shows where capital is moving. A listed vehicle dedicated to SMRs gives investors direct access to the supply chain, which also includes fuel suppliers. If the IEA’s projections hold, funds like SMRZ will be tracking a market in which the first commercial construction projects are already authorized.
