ESG-Screened Chip ETF Catches the AI Tailwind With a Global, Responsible Twist

This ESG-screened semiconductor ETF surged 92% YTD driven by AI chip demand, but recently cooled amid sector pullbacks. Top holdings include Micron, AMD, and Broadcom.

The iShares MSCI Global Semiconductors UCITS ETF has carved out a distinct niche in the red-hot semiconductor space by combining broad global exposure with an ESG filter that excludes companies tied to controversial weapons, tobacco, and coal mining. Launched in August 2021, the fund is the only ETF worldwide tracking the MSCI ACWI IMI Semiconductors & Semiconductor Equipment ESG Screened Select Capped Index, a benchmark that spans 260 holdings across developed and emerging markets. That differentiation has helped it swell to around $5.9 billion in net assets, even as the sector’s breakneck rally draws in ever-larger sums of money.

Year-to-date, the ETF has returned a staggering 92.44% in euro terms, propelled by insatiable demand for chips powering artificial intelligence. From a 52-week low of €8.35 in November 2025, the price has more than doubled, closing at €19.00 on Friday, July 10. That is still 11.73% below the all-time high of €21.52 reached on June 22, and the fund has been cooling off over the very short term: it slipped 1.55% over the past week and 0.78% on Friday alone. Yet the longer 30-day stretch still shows a solid 9.38% gain, and the relative strength index sits at a neutral 50, suggesting neither overbought nor oversold conditions.

The ETF’s underlying holdings have given it direct exposure to blockbuster corporate announcements. On Thursday, Micron Technology said it would boost planned US manufacturing and technology investments to more than $250 billion through 2035, up from a previous target of $200 billion. The stock jumped 8% on the news, and the entire memory-chip space rallied. Broadcom also added a fresh catalyst by deepening its tie-up with Apple in a deal worth over $30 billion, with more than $15 billion in US-made chips. Broadcom shares advanced 4%, and SanDisk gained after Wedbush raised its estimates on the storage maker.

That same Thursday brought the Nasdaq debut of South Korean memory giant SK Hynix, which raised roughly $26.5 billion in a heavily oversubscribed initial public offering. The stock opened 5% higher but surrendered most of those gains by the close, ending just 0.5% in the green. The following day a broad chip-sector pullback, led by names that had driven the prior rally, erased most of the euphoria — and explains the ETF’s Friday decline.

The fund’s top holdings at the time of its latest factsheet underscore its focus on the sector’s heavyweights: Micron at 9.02%, AMD at 8.09%, Broadcom at 7.05%, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing at 6.99%, Nvidia at 6.21%, and SK Hynix at 5.22%. This mix means the ETF participated directly in both the Micron-led surge and the Hynix listing, while also benefiting from the broader institutional inflows that have flooded US semiconductor ETFs. On July 7, US chip ETFs collectively pulled in $7.1 billion in a single day, with the iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX) alone attracting roughly $5 billion.

Volatility remains extreme: the fund’s 30-day annualized volatility stands at 70.65%, a figure that reflects the AI-driven, high-octane nature of the semiconductor trade. The ETF currently trades 3.86% above its 50-day moving average of €18.29, and with the RSI in neutral territory, the path ahead is uncertain. Geopolitical jitters around the Strait of Hormuz and the interest-rate stance of Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh continue to rattle broader markets, but the structural capital commitments from Micron and Broadcom suggest that the secular investment thesis remains intact — even if the daily ride is anything but smooth.