Listen to the daily weather reports and it is apparent that natural disasters are increasing in frequency and impact. The United States experienced 28 billion-dollar natural disasters in 2023 compared to the previous high of 22 in 2020.¹ With that trend in mind, companies involved in disaster recovery and prevention may be in demand. The Procure Disaster Recovery Strategy ETF (FIXT) focuses on firms that are involved with disaster recovery and prevention. As of the quarter ended March 31st, 2024, FIXT has experienced a 20.51% annual growth rate since its inception in 2022. Please click here for the fund’s standardized performance.

The FIXT ETF targets corporations involved in the recovery from and mitigation of destruction due to natural disasters. Mitigation can save $13 per $1 invested according to the National Institute of Building Sciences.² The Procure Disaster Recovery Strategy ETF recognizes that unfortunately natural disasters are a part of life. The corporations within the fund participate in cleaning up debris after an event, protecting and testing water supplies, fighting wildfires, and designing and building infrastructure like roads, power facilities, and government structures to withstand the impact of natural disasters. 

In 2023, the United States billion-dollar disasters included four flooding events, two tornado outbreaks, two tropical cyclones, seventeen severe weather/hail events, one drought and heatwave event, one wildfire, and a major winter storm.¹ Internationally, billion-dollar weather disasters included: typhoons in China, Philippines, and Taiwan; droughts in Argentina, China, Spain, Italy, France and India; floods in China, Greece, Libya, Italy, Bosnia, Croatia, India, New Zealand, Brazil, Uruguay, China, India, Chile and Mexico; and wildfires in Greece.³  These disasters required massive amounts of recovery efforts and dollars.

Unfortunately, natural disasters are expected to occur more frequently. Predicting their occurrences, preparing for their impact, and expediting the recovery efforts are important goals throughout the world. Corporations like Sterling Construction*, John Wood Group*, Hexagon AB*, NV5 Global*, Generac*, and Nvidia* are just some of the firms in the FIXT ETF portfolio which aid in planning for and rebuilding after extreme weather events.

Recently CNBC interviewed economists about the impact the climate crisis will have on the U.S. economy. Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics projected that “physical risks” from disasters such as hurricanes, flooding, and wildfires will be the biggest economic cost over the next 20 to 30 years. Nouriel Roubini noted that operations could be impacted, and economic activities could be damaged from rising sea-levels, flooding, hurricanes, typhoons, wildfires, and droughts.⁴ 

This could be a good time to look at ways to position your portfolio in advance of anticipated natural disaster destruction and costs. The Procure Disaster Recovery Strategy ETF, the FIXT ETF, addresses the need for recovery services and prevention measures to prepare for the inevitable natural disasters of the future.

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¹2023: A historic year of U.S. billion-dollar weather and climate disasters, Adam B. Smith, climate.gov, January 8,2024.

²The weather gauge: Driving extreme weather and resilience forward, munichre.com, 2024.

³A record 63 billion-dollar weather disasters hit Earth in 2023, by Jeff Masters, yaleclimateconnections.org, January 18,2024.

⁴How the climate crisis will affect the U.S. economy: Top economists Jeffrey Sachs, Nouriel Roubini and Mark Zandi discuss, by Jack Hillyer, CNBC.com, March 17,2024.

*As of March 15th, 2024, Generac (GNRC) was a 1.67% holding, Hexagon AB (HEXAB SS) was a 2.07% holding, John Wood Group (WG/ LN) was a 1.91% holding, NV5 Global (NVEE) was a 1.72% holding, Nvidia (NVDA) was a 3.44% holding, Sterling Infrastructure (STRL) was a 2.86% holding in the Procure Disaster Recovery Strategy ETF (NASDAQ: FIXT).

For a complete list of holdings in the Procure Disaster Recovery Strategy ETF, visit https://procureetfs.com/fixt/. Fund holdings and sector allocations are subject to change at any time and should not be considered a recommendation to buy or sell any security.

Performance data quoted represents past performance and does not guarantee future results. The investment return and principal value of an investment will fluctuate so that an investor’s shares, when redeemed, may be worth more or less than their original cost. Current performance of the Funds may be lower or higher than the performance quoted. All performance is historical and includes reinvestment of dividends and capital gains. Performance data current to the most recent month end may be obtained by calling 866-690-ETFS (3837).

Please consider the Funds investment objectives, risks, and charges and expenses carefully before you invest. This and other important information is contained in the Fund’s summary prospectus and prospectus, which can be obtained by visiting procureetfs.com. Read carefully before you invest.

Investing involves risk. Principal loss is possible. The Fund is also subject to the following risks: Shares of any ETF are bought and sold at market price (not NAV), may trade at a discount or premium to NAV and are not individually redeemed from the funds. Brokerage commissions will reduce returns. Securities of small- and mid-capitalization companies may experience much more price volatility, greater spreads between their bid and ask prices and significantly lower trading volumes than securities issued by large, more established companies. The Fund is not actively managed so it would not take defensive positions in declining markets unless such positions are reflected in the underlying index. Please refer to the summary prospectus for a more detailed explanation of the Funds’ principal risks. It is not possible to invest in an index.

Natural Disaster/Epidemic Risk – Natural or environmental disasters, such as earthquakes, fires, floods, hurricanes, tsunamis and other severe weather-related phenomena generally, and widespread disease, including pandemics and epidemics, have been and may be highly disruptive to economies and markets, adversely impacting individual companies, sectors, industries, markets, currencies, interest and inflation rates, credit ratings, investor sentiment, and other factors affecting the value of the Fund’s investments. Foreign Investment Risks – Foreign securities are typically more volatile, harder to price, and less liquid than U.S. securities.

The Procure Disaster Recovery Strategy ETF is neither associated with, nor endorsed by, the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

The Procure Disaster Recovery Strategy ETF is distributed by Quasar Distributors LLC.