Matthew Bartolini, Head of SPDR® Americas Research, State Street Global Advisors met with Julie Cooling, Founder & CEO, RIA Channel to discuss innovation’s impact on thematic investing. “There’s a vast amount of innovation throughout our economy,” says Bartolini on the changing economic landscape. In a recent partnership with Kensho, State Street launched a series of sub sector ETFs designed to identify systematic changes in the economy. These ETFs target companies innovating within specific sectors such as space travel (XKFF) or clean power (XKCP), but also aim to capture broad innovation across all sectors. Other thematic sectors featured in the Kensho ETF lineup include smart transportation (XKST) and intelligent infrastructure (XKII). “We have created a new way to classify these firms based on their forward looking expectations,” explains Bartolini. From a portfolio construction standpoint, the ETFs can be considered high beta, high growth, and high active share. To learn more, head to SPDRs.com.