Defiance Robotics Actuators ETF's index is 20 of 25 names listed outside the U.S.
ETF Series Solutions filed on Friday, September 11, 2026, a post-effective amendment dated to take effect Saturday for the Defiance Robotics Actuators ETF AT, a 0.69% tracker of the MarketVector Humanoid Actuator Index.
The Defiance Robotics Actuators ETF AT is built to hold companies that make the motors and gear systems that move humanoid robots, collaborative robots, and other automated machines. As of August 24 the MarketVector Humanoid Actuator Index it seeks to track sat at its minimum of 25 names, 20 of them listed on a non-U.S. exchange, with what the prospectus calls significant exposure to companies domiciled in Japan and China, including China A-shares through Stock Connect, the Hong Kong link to mainland listings.
ETF Series Solutions, the series trust that houses Defiance's funds, filed a Rule 485(b) post-effective amendment on Friday designated to take effect Saturday, September 12, the same date as the summary prospectus filed with it. The papers list the shares on Cboe BZX Exchange. The same day the trust filed a Form 8-A12B registering those shares for listing.
Total annual fund operating expenses are 0.69%, all of it the management fee. That sits 0.20 percentage points below the 0.89% on Defiance's China humanoid-robotics fund CROB, listed August 17, and 0.06 percentage points below the 0.75% on Roundhill's actively managed humanoid-robotics fund HUMN. Themes' humanoid-robotics index fund BOTT charges 0.35%. Defiance ETFs, LLC is the adviser; Penserra Capital Management LLC is the sub-adviser.
Servo motors, harmonic drives, quarterly rebalance
The index takes companies that get at least 50% of revenue from designing, making, or supplying actuator systems, motion-control parts, and related hardware used in articulated movement. The paper's examples are servo motors, the electric motors that set a joint's speed and force; harmonic drives, the gear systems that slow a motor and control its turning force; and cycloidal reducers.
Under normal circumstances the fund invests at least 80% of net assets, plus borrowings, in those Robotics Actuator Companies. It is not actively managed: Penserra does not sell a name for underperformance unless the index drops it or a rebalance requires the sale.
At each rebalance, eligible names are ranked by free-float market capitalization. The index keeps a minimum of 25 constituents and uses a modified float-adjusted market-cap weighting. It reconstitutes and rebalances quarterly after the close on the third Friday of March, June, September, and December. MarketVector established the index on December 31, 2020, and the paper says it became operational on July 31, 2026. What the prospectus shows as a live book is that August 24 snapshot: 25 names, at the floor.
Frequently asked
What does the fund actually hold?
Companies that make the motors and gear systems, servo motors, harmonic drives, cycloidal reducers, that move humanoid robots, collaborative robots and other automated machines.
How does a company qualify for the index?
It has to get at least 50% of revenue from designing, making or supplying actuator systems, motion-control parts and related hardware used in articulated movement.
How does the fee compare with other humanoid-robotics funds?
At 0.69% it undercuts Defiance's own China humanoid-robotics fund at 0.89% and Roundhill's active fund at 0.75%, but sits above Themes' index fund at 0.35%.
Is anyone picking the stocks?
No: the fund is not actively managed, and the sub-adviser won't sell a name for underperformance unless the index drops it or a rebalance requires it.