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Week of 27 February to 2 March 2026 | ETP Market Observations
Each week's new ETP listings provide a kind of real-time signal about where asset managers believe investor appetite is heading. The listings flagged today are particularly revealing. Set against a backdrop of rising defence budgets, AI-driven energy demand, and intensifying competition over critical mineral supply chains, a handful of new products stand out as more than just additions to an already crowded market.
Two launches from Nicholas Wealth's XFUNDS suite deserve particular attention: the Nicholas Nuclear Income ETF (NUKX) and the Nicholas Defense and Rare Earth Income ETF (WEPN). Taken together, they represent a broader structural shift in how thematic investing is being packaged for retail and institutional audiences alike.
When Nuclear Meets Income: The Logic Behind NUKX
The Nicholas Nuclear Income ETF (NUKX, NYSE Arca) combines active equity exposure to nuclear industry companies with a covered-call options overlay designed to generate regular monthly income for investors. It launched alongside its stablemate SMRF, the ALPS Nautilus SMR, Nuclear and Technology ETF, a coincidence that speaks to how crowded the nuclear thematic space has become in a very short period of time.
The timing is not accidental. AI data centres are driving electricity demand at a pace that utility grids are struggling to meet. Goldman Sachs has estimated that data centre power consumption will increase by more than 160% between 2023 and 2030. Major technology companies including Microsoft, Meta and Amazon Web Services have already signed long-term power purchase agreements directly with nuclear plant operators, signalling a structural rather than cyclical shift in energy procurement. President Trump has also signed executive orders targeting an increase in US nuclear capacity from around 100 GW to 400 GW by 2050, adding a tailwind from domestic policy.
NUKX attempts to capture this theme while solving a common investor problem: many retail investors are interested in nuclear exposure but are cautious about the volatility that comes with a sector where sentiment can swing dramatically on regulatory news. The covered-call structure caps the upside in exchange for reliable distributions, which is a reasonable trade-off for income-focused investors who want sector participation without full directional risk.
The structural tension is real and worth acknowledging. If you hold a very strong conviction that nuclear stocks will surge, capping your gains through sold calls is a cost. But for investors who want measured exposure to a multi-year theme alongside a predictable income stream, the product logic is coherent. The fact that two separate issuers arrived at the same structure on virtually the same day suggests the product design was already well-telegraphed by investor demand signals.
Defence and Rare Earths in a Single Wrapper: WEPN
The Nicholas Defense and Rare Earth Income ETF (WEPN, NYSE Arca) is, if anything, even more timely. It combines equity exposure to defence industry companies and rare earth producers with the same income-generating options overlay used in NUKX.
The pairing of defence and rare earths is not arbitrary. These two themes are deeply intertwined at a geopolitical level. China currently controls approximately 70% of global rare earth mine output and over 85% of refining capacity. The export controls Beijing has deployed in recent months, including restrictions on heavy rare earth elements such as dysprosium and terbium, which are essential for advanced defence applications, have focused minds in Washington, Brussels and Tokyo. President Trump's Project Vault, a $12 billion initiative to build a US Strategic Critical Minerals Reserve announced in February 2026, is a direct policy response to this vulnerability.
European defence budgets are simultaneously rising at their fastest pace in decades, driven by the changing security environment on the continent. This creates a dual demand pull: increasing procurement of defence systems, and intensifying pressure to secure the raw materials that underpin them. An ETF that holds both sides of this equation in a single product is answering a specific portfolio construction question that more and more investors are beginning to ask.
Once again, the income layer added through options writing makes the product more accessible to a broader range of investors, including those managing liability-sensitive portfolios who might otherwise struggle to justify pure thematic equity allocations.
Rare Earths on the Swiss Exchange: RAREE
Also notable among this week's new listings is the SQ Rare Earth China ETP (RAREE.S) on the Swiss Exchange (XSWX). While details on the specific issuer are still emerging, the product's listing reflects the same underlying macro anxiety about critical mineral supply chains. Swiss-listed ETPs with exposure to Chinese rare earth producers offer a distinct angle from the Western miner and refiner-focused products that dominate the London and New York markets, and they carry their own specific risk profile given the ongoing export control environment.
A Broader Pattern
The listings and delistings from this short window illustrate several converging trends. Thematic ETFs are increasingly being designed with an income layer rather than pure directional exposure. The themes attracting new product development, nuclear energy, defence, critical minerals, are all connected to the same underlying forces: AI infrastructure investment, energy security and the geopolitics of supply chains. Defined-outcome structures are deepening their calendar presence as tools for managing volatility. And the market is rationalising, closing products that have not achieved the scale needed to justify their existence.
For those of us tracking the ETF market on a daily basis, this week was a useful reminder that product launches are not just commercial decisions. They are also a form of market commentary, reflecting where managers see structural demand emerging and how they believe investors want to access it. The nuclear and rare earth income products from Nicholas Wealth are particularly interesting in that regard. They suggest that the next phase of thematic investing may be less about pure beta and more about structured access to long-cycle macro themes with a yield attached.
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