The risks confronting American industry and global stability are not theoretical—they are real and have profound consequences. In response, the U.S. government is actively collaborating with private sector leaders on strategic investments regarded as essential to securing America's economic and national interests.
For example, J.P. Morgan just launched a 10-year, $1.5T Security & Resiliency Initiative to finance and invest in industries tied to national security, with up to $10B of the bank's own equity earmarked for defense, energy, advanced manufacturing, and frontier tech.
In late October, Nvidia Corporation (NASDAQ: NVDA ) and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Ltd. (NYSE: TSM ) achieved a significant milestone — the production of Nvidia's first Blackwell wafer on U.S. soil. The partnership and collaborative effort marked a pivotal step in fortifying U.S. semiconductor supply chains, which has long been a key concern but one that was exacerbated by the COVID-19 crisis. The pandemic exposed the fragility of the global flow of technological goods which modern economies rely on. Combined with ongoing tensions between the U.S. and China, ensuring resilient and reliable access to critical infrastructure and resources has become even more of a priority.
Still, supply chains represent but one major cog in a broader, complex machine. To provide a more holistic approach to investing in emerging technologies, Xtrackers by DWS has created a unique product called the Xtrackers US National Critical Technologies ETF (NYSE: CRTC ). Featuring a diversified canvas of leading innovators, CRTC represents strategic exposure to what could potentially be the most consequential enterprises of the future.
Diversification Is the Name of the Game
As a general benefit, many investors gravitate toward exchange-traded funds because they typically provide broad exposure to a variety of publicly traded enterprises. This structure provides inherent risk management. If certain companies encounter volatility, other names in the portfolio can potentially help pick up the slack, thus mitigating the blow.
However, CRTC takes diversification to a new level. While this fund targets companies that are pivotal to national security, that doesn't mean exposure exclusively to artificial intelligence and similar segments. Instead, the Xtrackers fund holds approximately 220 positions across a diverse group of mid-to-large-capitalization companies in 16 developed nations.
Moreover, CRTC doesn't just focus on Information Technology, though this sector has the largest allocation at 37%. Other core industries include Communication Services at almost 17% and Healthcare at more than 15%. Also, CRTC maintains exposure to Industrials, Energy, Utilities, Consumer Discretionary, Materials, and even Financials.
Most importantly, CRTC spans the six distinct critical-technology domains as defined by U.S. national security priorities. Not surprisingly, the individual listings encompass a wide net, with diverse holdings such as Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG ) (NASDAQ: GOOGL ), AbbVie Inc. (NYSE: ABBV ) and Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM ).
Rules-Based Exposure to Tech Priorities
CRTC tracks the Solactive Whitney U.S. Critical Technologies Index, which is built using selection criteria tied to the U.S. Department of War's six critical technology sectors that are essential for supporting military and economic security:
Applied Artificial Intelligence (AAI) Biomanufacturing (BIO) Contested Logistics Technologies (LOG) Quantum and Battlefield Information Dominance (Q-BID) Scaled Directed Energy (SCADE) Scaled Hypersonics (SHY)The Solactive Index seeks to reflect companies that directly support these tech pillars — a structural linkage few other innovation-focused ETFs provide. Thanks to this rules-based targeting, the index behind the underlying portfolio tilts toward technologies prioritized for federal funding, industrial-policy support and long-term national resilience, thus aligning itself with strategies explicitly outlined by federal policymakers.
Proprietary Geostrategic Risk Reduction
Perhaps the most unique feature of the Solactive Index is the use of the Geostrategic Risk Rating (GRR), a system developed with J.H. Whitney Data Services to score each company's geopolitical risk profile. Only firms with sufficiently high GRR scores qualify for index inclusion.
More than just a collection of disparate facts, the GRR evaluates multiple dimensions of geopolitical vulnerability, including:
Supply chain dependencies Revenue geography Operational footprint Sanctions exposure Foreign ownership and board structureOne of the key elements of the GRR system is that it filters out companies that are exposed to adversarial nations, including China, Russia, Iran and North Korea. A key advantage of this structure is that the index favors companies aligned with U.S. and allied geopolitical interests, thus reducing hidden entanglement risk — a central theme for the CRTC's strategic directive.
Positioning For America's Next Technological Era
Ultimately, CRTC sits at the intersection of innovation, national strategy and geopolitical reality. As the U.S. confronts escalating competition across semiconductors, artificial intelligence, advanced manufacturing, quantum technologies and next-generation energy systems, the need for structurally resilient technology leadership has never been more pronounced. CRTC's underlying index systematically enables exposure to companies operating in defense-aligned, federally prioritized domains that are integral to long-term national and economic stability.
Moreover, its diversified architecture provides an inherently wide footprint across sectors and industries, while the rules-based methodology ensures that every included enterprise supports the critical DoW-defined technology pillars. Layered on top of this, the GRR adds a genuinely distinguishing dimension by filtering out companies entangled with adversarial nations. Together, these features allow CRTC to enable targeted, forward-leaning exposure inside a passive structure.
For investors looking to position themselves at the forefront of America's most consequential technological initiatives, CRTC deserves a hard look as a potentially powerful addition to your portfolio — click here to explore how it can fit into your overall investment strategy.
Featured image from Shutterstock .
This post contains sponsored content. This content is for informational purposes only and is not intended to be investing advice.
ABBV AbbVie Inc $222.87 -0.05% Overview CRTC Xtrackers US National Critical Technologies ETF $36.69 -% GOOG Alphabet Inc $318.71 0.30% GOOGL Alphabet Inc $318.08 0.32% NVDA NVIDIA Corp $184.27 -0.38% TSM Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd $305.34 0.64% XOM Exxon Mobil Corp $119.09 0.71% Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs© 2025 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
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