Key points
- The global cybersecurity industry is a growing sector due to to the rising amount of cybercrime as more activity and information is online
- Betashares Global Cybersecurity ETF is an ASX share that allows investors to invest in a quality group of cybersecurity businesses
- It has plenty of the world's biggest players in the portfolio such as Cisco Systems, Accenture, Palo Alto Networks and Crowdstrike
Betashares Global Cybersecurity ETF (ASX: HACK) is an ASX share that can give investors exposure to some of the world's leading cybersecurity businesses in an exchange-traded fund (ETF) structure.
Why is cybersecurity a growth industry?
Worldwide spending on cybersecurity is predicted to increase to almost US$250 billion.
The PWC 2022 global digital trust insights report showed that around 70% of entities which responded expect to grow their cybersecurity spending in 2022. Just over a quarter said they were expecting to increase cyber defence expenditure by at least 10%.
Around the world, cybercrime continues to rise. According to Australian statistics, there were over 67,500 cybercrime reports in FY21, an increase of nearly 13% from the previous financial year. The self-reported losses from cybercrime totalled more than $33 billion.
Approximately one quarter of the reported cyber security incidents affected entities associated with Australia's critical infrastructure.
Fraud, online shopping scams and online banking scams were the top reported cybercrime types.
In FY21, there was an increase in the average severity and impact of reported cybersecurity incidents, with nearly half categorised as 'substantial'.
By 2023, the global cybersecurity market is expected to rise to US$248.26 billion.
How does the Betashares Global Cybersecurity ETF fit in?
The HACK ETF portfolio owns many of the businesses involved in the hardware and software that is keeping organisations and individuals safe (or at least safer) in the digital world.
Readers may have heard of some of the 35 businesses in the ETF's top holdings. These are the biggest 10 positions: Cisco Systems, Accenture, Palo Alto Networks, Crowdstrike, Check Point Software, Juniper Networks, VMware, Akamai Technologies, Leidos and Cloudflare.
The above businesses offer services like firewalls, secure logins, cybersecurity accreditation, important equipment and so on.
Getting exposure to this industry through the HACK ETF comes with an annual management fee of 0.67%.
Performance of the ETF
Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance. However, since inception the Betashares Global Cybersecurity ETF has produced net returns of an average of 22.3% per annum to December 2021. In the past three years, the ETF's net returns have been an average of 30.5% per annum.
